Slice Your Way to Happiness
by GhostofYou
Summary: HIATUS. Sakura's friend Rei made a mistake, and started cutting herself. She regrets not telling anyone because it is too late, and now she thinks it's all her fault. When Sasuke catches her trying to cut herself, can he stop her from doing the same thing?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** Okay, I confess. I DO own Naruto. I know you guys are so jealous. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Police sirens going off) OH NO! Don't let them catch me! AHHHHH!

Police Officer: Sorry, she' a little crazy. But she WILL NEVER own Naruto.

"Speak"

'Thoughts'

'**Inner thoughts'**

_Flashbacks

* * *

_

Prologue

"Psst! Sakura!"

Sakura heard someone was whispering to her during Kakashi-sensei's lesson, so turned her head to see who it was. It turns out that the person who was calling her was sitting right next to her. It was one of her best friends, Rei.

"What Rei?"

"I want to show you something!" Sakura was confused.

'What could she have that she wanted to show me?'

'**I don't know. Maybe she found something! Maybe like money!'**

"What do you want to show me? Kakashi-sensei might catch us!" Although Sakura was worried about Kakashi-sensei catching them, she couldn't help but feel curious. What did Rei have to show her?

Rei seemed preoccupied doing something in her desk, but slowly she took then out of her desk. Sakura glanced up at Rei wondering what she had in her hands that was so important. Once Sakura looked down at Rei's hands once more, she noticed something. Rei rolled her sleeves up a bit, revealing a scar on her wrist. Rei took her other sleeve and did the same thing, revealing yet another scar on her wrist.

Then Rei did the something Sakura thought she would never ever do. Rei took her ring on her finger, and stuck her hands inside her desk once more.

A couple of seconds later, Rei revealed her two wrists once more. Except this time they were different. Blood was oozing out of the scar she just reopened. It wasn't enough blood for her to pass out, but it was enough to make anyone worry.

Sakura was freaking out now. "What are you doing? Stop it! Clean the blood up now! Stop it!" Sakura was still whispering because she did not want to disrupt the class. But Rei was scaring her. She wanted to tell Kakashi-sensei, but she couldn't find the courage to say anything. But what Rei did next was the thing that scared Sakura the most.

Rei was smiling.

'Why is she smiling?! Does she enjoy the pain or something?'

"Rei stop it please! Please stop!" Sakura was pleading now, but Rei ignored her begs, and let her wounds continue to ooze.

That class was the slowest class that Sakura ever had in her life. It seemed that the time would never end. She spent her whole class trying to convince Rei to stop, but it wasn't working. She needed to talk to her after class.

The bell finally rang, and Sakura knew that it was time to ask the question.

* * *

After class

Sakura pulled Rei outside. Since Kakashi-sensei's class was right before lunch, they were allowed to go outside. She pulled Rei to a private area, and sat down while Rei followed suit.

"Rei! What were you doing?!" Sakura felt like she was going to break down, but she kept her posture.

Rei hesitated for a moment before she started to sob. "Sakura! He found out! After all this time he found out!" Rei was crying now, putting her hands up to cover her face.

"Who found out?" Sakura knew who she was talking about, but she needed to make sure. After all, she thought that her secret was kept safe from _him._

"My boyfriend, that's who!" Sakura knew she was right, but she kept quiet for Rei to continue. "Jiro found out about what happened this December! He found out that I cheated on him when I was away for Christmas! Someone over heard us talking about it and told him! Now he broke up with me! I feel so horrible!"

"But Rei, when did you start cutting yourself?" Sakura needed to know NOW. Rei need help, her help.

"He found out this Saturday, and he broke up with me. I couldn't take the pain in my heart anymore, so I started to cut myself on Sunday," Rei replied after the last tear finally dropped.

"Sunday?! That was three days ago! You mean you've been cutting yourself the whole time?" Rei nodded, and she was about to say something, but Sakura continued. "Rei, don't do this! If Jiro finds out you're doing this, you'll just push him farther from you. You need help, and I'm here. I'm going to tell someone right now."

Sakura was about to stand up to tell a teacher, when suddenly, Rei jerked her back down.

"NO! You can't tell anyone! This is our secret, okay?"

"But-"

"But nothing! You have to swear that you won't tell anyone." Rei paused for a while and then continued. "No matter what."

Sakura didn't know what to do. She felt her life collapsing around her. "No, Rei please…"

"Sakura, you are my best friend in the whole world. You have to swear to me that you won't tell anyone," Rei stayed firm as her eyes bore into Sakura's to gain her trust.

Sakura hesitated; she didn't know what to do. She was frightened. She didn't want Rei to do this to herself! Why? Sakura felt a tear roll down her cheek, but she gave in. "Okay Rei, I will not tell anyone about your cutting, I swear," Sakura replied just above a whisper.

Rei's eyes now showed joy, as she pulled Sakura to her feet. As they were walking back to class, Sakura had an uneasy feeling within her. Did she make the right choice?

'What have I done?'

* * *

Two days later

"Sakura!"

Sakura looked up from her seat on the park bench. At first, Sakura couldn't see the person who called out to her, but as the figure came closer, she recognized the figure. It was Jiro!

'What is he doing here?'

'…'

'Hello? Are you there?'

'**I don't feel like talking for a while. So for now, you are on your own.'**

Jiro wasn't alone though, one of his friend's Sasuke was there. Sakura has had a crush on him for a while, Rei and Jiro knew about it, of course. They were always teasing her about it! Sasuke knew, too, but he just didn't feel like acknowledging her presence. He thought she would be another one of his fan girls. But ever since, Sakura found about Rei, she just couldn't feel anything at all. No happiness, just sadness and despair.

Once the two came, Sakura put on the best fake smile she ever could and asked, "Hey guys! What are you doing here? Hehehe…."

"Nothing. We were just walking around, when we saw you on the bench, and we," at that moment Sasuke gave Jiro a very annoyed look, "I mean, I wanted to say hi."

Sakura wasn't going to plan on telling Jiro about Rei's cutting, but she was going to ask about what happened on Saturday. Sakura's face suddenly turned serious, "Jiro, I need to talk to you. _Now._"

Without waiting for a reply, Sakura grabbed Jiro's hand and pulled him to another bench far away. But she didn't realize that she left a VERY confused Sasuke.

'What the hell? Where is she taking him?'

'**Well since Jiro broke up with Rei, maybe she wants to confess that she always had feeling for him! And they'll live-'**

'What are YOU talking about? Living happily ever after? Hmpf. That's stupid'

* * *

With Sakura and Jiro

"Jiro, who told you about what Rei did on Christmas?" Sakura went right to the point, she needed to know who and how that person told Jiro.

At first, Jiro hesitated, but then he sighed and confessed, "Ino told me. She heard you and Rei talking about how you were worried about me finding out about it. Then Rei told you that I'll never find out. I guess she was wrong. Then Ino went to talk to me on Saturday, and I was very upset. I had to end the relationship with her. Don't you understand how I feel?"

"I know how must feel, hurt and betrayed, but ever since Sunday, Rei…" Sakura was about to blab about Rei when she suddenly remembered about her promise to Rei. She wanted to tell him so badly, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

As if Jiro was reading Sakura's mind, he replied, "I know what you were about to say. You were about to tell me that Rei has been cutting herself." Sakura's eyes widened.

'How did he know?'

"How did you know about Rei's cutting?" Sakura queried, whispering on the word 'cutting.'

"What? I saw it in class when she had to 'show you something.' Remember, I don't sit that far away from you. I saw the whole thing"

Sakura's mood brightened, "So are you going to help her through this with me?"

Jiro's answer was very brusque, "No."

Sakura couldn't believe it. He said 'no'? How could he have said no? Rei was his ex-girl friend, for God's sake! He's been there for Rei ever since their first date in ninth grade. Now he was telling her no?

"But why? Jiro, why won't you help her though this? She needs help!" Sakura was on the verge of tears.

'Jiro please, she needs your help!'

Jiro's anger rose, his eyes showed a burning fury. His anger wasn't meant to be aimed at Sakura, but he needed to let his emotions out. "Why? You're asking me why, Sakura? You should understand why! She cheated on me with some other guy since Christmas! That was three months ago! All this time she has been lying to me, and she thought that I would never find out! If she told me earlier, maybe I wouldn't have taken it as badly!"

(A/N: For those who still don't know what moth it is… It's MARCH!)

"Jiro…" Sakura could only whisper as she saw Jiro pour out his emotions.

"NO! Sakura, I won't help her. I don't deserve to be treated like this. It's not my problem anymore, it's yours." And just like that, Jiro turned away and didn't look back.

As Sakura stood there, not knowing what to do, a memory flashed through her mind.

* * *

Ninth Grade

"_Omg! Rei how was your date with Jiro?" Sakura squealed as she saw Rei come into her house._

_Rei looked dreamily towards the ceiling, "It was perfect, and guess what Sakura!"_

_Sakura answered, "What?"_

"_He…"_

"_What?"_

"_He…"_

"_What?" Sakura couldn't take it any longer. Excitement coursed through her body._

"_He asked me to be his girl friend!" Rei jumped up as she said the last word._

"_AHHHHH!!!!!!" the girls screamed in unison._

"_OMG! I CAN'T BELIEVE HE ASKED YOU TO BE HIS GIRL FRIEND!" Sakura was so excited for Rei. Ever since middle school, she had always had a crush on Jiro. Too bad he never noticed her, but now he asked her to be his girl friend! She hoped one day, she will find a boy friend like Rei._

"_Girls! Be quiet!" Sakura's mom was getting annoyed with all their screaming._

"_Sorry mom!" Sakura yelled one more time to her mother. "Rei you make such a cute couple with Jiro!"_

_Rei plopped onto Sakura's bed and sighed, "Yeah, and we'll be together forever"

* * *

_

'Hmmm. I guess it wasn't really forever. But I guess to them, dating till eleventh grade was forever.'

Sakura slowly walked back to her house, and was thinking of ways that she could possibly help Rei. But if only she knew, what was going to happen in the course of three months.

* * *

Three months later (A/N: It is JUNE!)

It's been three months, almost four, since Sakura learned about Rei's secret. She's dealt with Rei cutting herself in front of her, and dealt with the fact that she didn't say anything to stop her. She just watched herself slice her way to happiness.

School ended three days ago, and Sakura was lazily basking in the sun, when she heard her cell phone ring. "Hello?"

There was no response, but she heard that the person on the line was heavily breathing, it sounded like sobbing. It had to be Rei. Sakura shot up from her seat. "Rei? What's wrong?"

Rei stopped for a moment to breathe and once her breathing was somewhat normal, she began to speak, "Sakura, I saw him."

"Saw who?" But Sakura didn't need to ask, she already knew.

"I saw Jiro, WITH ANOTHER GIRL! He really did move on huh? But why can't I? I just can't let him go."

"Wait! Rei what are you trying to tell me?" Sakura was getting worried.

'What is she planning to do?'

"Sakura, listen to me. When I was with Jiro, I felt like my life was complete. But now that he's gone, I feel nothing! I wanted to call you to say goodbye…forever."

Now Sakura got it. Rei was going to commit suicide! eHSakura was speechless. "No! Please Rei don't do it! Rei please don't!" Sakura began to sob as she pleaded Rei not to commit suicide.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but this will make me happy. Don't you want me to be happy?"

'Happy? What do you mean happy Rei?'

Sakura couldn't take it anymore, "Rei… please…." She sobbed into the phone.

"Goodbye Sakura, I just wanted to let you know that you were the best friend I ever had. You were always by my side. But now, I got to go. Goodbye forever," Re's choice was final. Sakura couldn't do anything.

"Wait, Rei!" Sakura called into the phone, but Rei already hung up, and did her deed.

Sakura ran into her room, and just stayed there all day crying for her dear friend Rei. When she stopped bawling, but she was still shaking, she turned on her TV to the news.

"Breaking News in Konoha! Today a girl was found in her house, dead. She had committed suicide by cutting her wrists, and going into her bathtub. Police believe that she had been left like that since one o'clock this evening while her parents were out. Her name was Rei Suzuki, an eleventh grade student in Konoha High. Her reason for committing suicide is unknown to anyone. But if you know please tell her parents because they want to know why their daughter did this. All of Konoha will mourn for this loss, and remember Rei Suzuki, daughter, student, and the best of all, a friend. This is Akiko Chang with the 6:00 News."

'So they finally found out. What have I done? This is all my fault! I should have told someone about Rei's problem! She needed help, and I thought I was helping her the best I could, but I guess it wasn't! I thought I could help her all by myself, but I couldn't! I'm so stupid! Why Rei? Why did you have to choose the path you did. There are so many other ways that you could have handled this! There were so many ways that I could have handled this! I hate myself! I should have tried to help you!'

Sakura couldn't think anymore. The cheery girl that was once inside her died, and she wasn't coming back. She felt nothing, no pain, no sorrow. Nothing. Her inner self was even gone. Sakura no longer brought warmth to anyone around her, but she brought sadness and despair.

The new school year was coming up, and she was going to be a senior. Her anxiousness was gone, replaced by the fear of going to school. What if people found out that she knew about Rei's problem? She didn't want to face them, but she had to because September was right around the corner.

Sakura didn't even bother to change into her pajamas as she drifted to sleep. As she tossed and turned during the middle of the night, she only had one thought on her mind.

'_It was all my fault.'

* * *

_

Wow! That was a very long chapter. And that was only the prologue! Just to let you know, this did happen to my friend except she didn't die. Someone told a teacher before it was too late. This story is just telling what could have happened but didn't

**READ AND REVIEW!!! MUHAHAHAHAHA!………………….**please…….(does puppy dog eyes)


	2. Welcome Back to Konoha High

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto…. (Sigh)…. But I do own my teddy bear:)

"Speak"

'Thoughts'

'**Inner thoughts'**

_Flashbacks

* * *

_

Chapter 1 – Welcome Back to Konoha High!

Sakura's POV

How long has it been?

A day?

A week?

A month?

I don't know how long it's been since… she…..died. I've lost count. Time just seemed to…stop. I'm lost in my own world, unaware of events that have happened so far. Nothing matters anymore; I can't really feel anything except….

Sorrow and Regret.

_It's all your fault!_

These words keep ringing in my head. I want to run away from it, but inside, I know that it's true. I can't hide from the truth, no matter how hard I try.

_It's all your fault!_

Funny. It's so ironic. What goes around comes around huh? I guess it's true. Everything's coming back to haunt me, eh?

_It's all your fault!_

I look over at the clock, 10:45 PM. So, I've been sitting on my bed since lunch? Oh, well, not like I have anything to do anyway. I then look over to the calendar. It's September 5th. Hmm. Why does it seem like something's coming up? I don't care anyway. So, where was I? Oh, yes.

_It's all your fault!_

There isn't one day when I don't think about those words. It's like the annoying cricket from that movie. Oh, yeah, Pinocchio. Why can't I just let go?

_It's all your fault!_

These words aren't just words; they are a giant weight on my back that reminds me why Rei's gone. They are kind of like a curse I have to put up with everyday of my life. It's a punishment.

Punishment

Curse

Punishment!

Curse!

PUNISHMENT!

CURSE!

**PUNISHMENT!**

**CURSE!**

I wish I had someone to talk to. Since Rei's gone, I can't really talk to anyone. There is Ino, but she wouldn't understand. Naruto? Nah, he'd just talk about ramen. I sighed, so I guess I really am alone in this.

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

It's 12:00 already? I guess I better get to bed.

I walked over to the bathroom, and took a good look at myself in the mirror. What I saw didn't surprise me. A blank expression looked back at me, my eyes looked cold with bags under them, and my hair looked uncombed. The usual.

After I finished getting ready, I stopped over by my nightstand. There was a picture of myself from a year before. Definitely more different than what I saw in the mirror. My face was all cheery, with glittering eyes, and well-combed hair. It was so surreal; it was like seeing the ghost of what I used to be.

There's nothing I can do anymore, so I just climbed onto the bed and drifted off to sleep.

_It's all your fault!_

September 6th

"Sakura! Wake up! It's the first day of school!"

I groggily awoke from my slumber. So that's what I thought was coming up, it was school. I sighed, and stood up to get ready for yet another boring day.

Well, I might as well put some effort into getting ready for school. I combed my hair, and brushed my teeth, and put on my clothes.

It was 7:00 and I still had 30 minutes left till school actually started. So I went downstairs to get some breakfast. I took a bowl, and got some cereal, and began to eat.

"Honey," my mother began. Ever since Rei died, she's noticed my behavior. Lately, she's been trying to get closer to me, but I'm still unresponsive. I don't know why though.

"Hmm?"

"Honey, you know ever since Rei died, you've been acting differently."

Oh, Great! Here we go again! By my silence, my mother took it as a sign to continue.

"I think that you should move on, it's been three months already. I know that it is hard, but it's not your fault for what happened."

Really? You think so? You don't even know the real story! I could've told somebody of what I knew, but I didn't!

"Oh, and honey, it's your senior year, please try to make the best of it."

"Whatever," I replied. Yeah, mother! Of course I'll try!

NOT!

So after I finished my breakfast, it was time to go to school. Slowly, I walked to the oh-so famous Konoha High.

* * *

Konoha High

As I expected, there was a crowd in front of the school waiting for the bell to ring like every year. Old friends come see each other and tell them how their summer went, new students hustle to find a friendly face, and of course, the fan girls crowding around their dream guy.

I got closer to the crowd, and peered over a couple of people, and saw that the fan girls were crowding around the obvious, Sasuke Uchiha. But the person I saw next to him really surprised me. It was….

Jiro!

So he really moved on? He doesn't even seem like he remembers that his ex just passed away. Nope. He looks as happy a bunny in Carrot Land. But when his gaze met mine, but he adverted his gaze to more of his "fans." So, he feels a little bit of guilt, huh? That's not enough for him to stop savoring the limelight. Whatever.

I couldn't look at the crowd anymore, so I just moved deeper into the sea of people. I didn't know where I was going really. It's not like I had anyone to talk to anyway.

All of a sudden I saw a flash of yellow coming towards me. Who could that possibly be? But as the yellow blur was getting closer, I realized that it was Ino charging her way through the crowd. It was taking a while because of all the people she had to dodge that were in the way.

When she finally reached to my position, she was panting and practically sweating. I guess trying to dodge a crowd is really a workout.

"HI SAKURA!" Ino yelled in my ear. I swear! I'm going to go deaf! "HELLO! ARE YOU LISTENING?"

"Yeah….God Ino…..Do you have to scream so loud?" Geez. My head was still ringing.

"What's up with you? I mean look at what you're wearing on the first day of school!" Ino pointed to my outfit. I didn't see what was wrong with my outfit. I mean I was wearing a shirt, pants, and shoes, I don't see anything missing.

"What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Sakura! Hello! You're practically wearing all black! Well, except for your jeans, but they're dark blue! What's up with you?"

"Nothing………So did you hear about Rei?"

"Yeah….. I can't believe she really killed herself. But you know I can understand why, but you know it was her fault for cheating on Jiro. She our friend, but you knew her best. Did you know that she was cutting herself?"

_Yes._

"No," I lied.

RING!

"Oh, well. There's the bell, come on Sakura! You don't want to be late!" And Ino was off again trying to dodge all the people in her way. A thought rushed into my head. Wasn't it Ino who told Jiro about Rei? It was, wasn't it! But I can't really blame her though; she was just trying to be a good friend.

Everyone was rushing to get into the school, but my feet stayed planted on the ground.

_It's all your fault!_

After a while, my feet finally started to move, but I wasn't exactly watching where I was going. I was almost through the doors when I suddenly found myself on the ground. I bumped into someone, but whom?

I looked up, and saw that I bumped into Sasuke.

Sasuke Uchiha. My old crush, but now I feel nothing. No blush, nothing, I guess it was just a stupid little crush anyway. I mean why would he even consider going out with me anyway? There are a whole lot of other girls eligible for him to go out with.

So without even looking at him in the eye, I just picked up my things and started walking towards my locker.

* * *

Sasuke POV

Huh? Not even a word? Not even a "Sorry"? All she did was pick up her stuff and brush right past me.

**I mean ME the Sasuke Uchiha. Mr. I'm-So-Good-Looking-And-Have-So-Many-Drooling-Fan-Girls!**

….?

What surprised me most was that it was Sakura Haruno. The girl who was so cheery, and had a crush on me didn't even glance at me. She would usually have a blush on her face as red as a tomato, and stutter. But all I heard was….

Cricket

Cricket

(A/N Cricket Cricket means that it is silent!)

**OH NO! MAYBE IT IS THE APOCOLYPSE!

* * *

**

Sakura POV

"Hey," I heard a voice calling from behind. Turning my head around, I saw that it was Sasuke trying to get my attention.

"What is it Sasuke?" I really didn't feel like talking to him right now. Maybe later. In like hmmm….500 years.

"You bumped into me, and you don't even say 'Sorry'?" Sasuke talk me as if he was expecting an apology.

Well, an apology he wants, an apology he gets.

"Okay…..Sasuke yada yada yada…..I'm sorry for bumping into to you…..yada yada yada. The end."

What? He wanted an apology, and I gave him one.

"…."

Tick

Tock

Tick

Tock

I was losing my patience, he wasn't even saying anything! "Can I leave now? I'm going to be late."

Before Sasuke could even answer my question I was off.

"Wait a minute-" But that's all I heard till I got to the other side of the hallway.

* * *

Sasuke POV

"Wait a minute-" But that's all I could even say before she was gone in the sea of raging people.

"_Okay…..Sasuke yada yada yada…..I'm sorry for bumping into to you…..yada yada yada. The end." _

**What the fuck was that? What the hell is wrong with her?!**

She is certainly different from the last time I really saw her. And that was in March with Jiro at the park.

Wait!

Didn't Sakura have something to tell Jiro? What if Jiro said something to her?

NAH! That's stupid, Jiro would never do anything like that.

**But maybe….**

No that's impossible. Jiro is one of the nicest guys I know.

Out of nowhere I see Ino coming towards me.

"Ohayo! Sasuke-kun!" Ino squealed into my ear.

"Get. Away. From. Me. Now." Augh! This girl is one of my biggest fan girls. And that's saying something.

"Don't worry Sasuke-kun! I'm not chasing you anymore, I have a boyfriend!"

"And who is this…er…Lucky man?" Ha. More like Unlucky.

"Shikamaru Nara!" Ino exclaimed defiantly.

WHAT? She's going out with that cloud watcher? Talk about opposites attract.

"Sasuke-kun. What's wrong? You seem distracted."

"Nothing. I just saw Sakura a while ago. She was acting….weird," I said looking back into the hallway where Sakura disappeared.

"So you noticed too?" Ino said raising an eyebrow at the hallway I was looking at.

"What do you mean?" She noticed what? That Sakura was acting her less cheery self? That she was totally ice cold to me?

"Well, she wasn't herself today. I mean did you see what she was wearing? Practically all black. I don't know what's wrong with her……Well, I think it's because-"

RRRRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

"Sorry Sasuke-kun! I'm going to be late! I didn't even get to my locker yet!" And there Ino went zooming down the hallway.

What was she about to tell me?

I would have stuck around longer, but I realized that I haven't even gotten to get my locker either. But when I looked at my schedule, I realized that I had nothing to worry about.

First Period – Kakashi-sensei

I could take all the time in the world.

* * *

AHHH! This took me so long to write! Huge writer's block!

Should I continue? This story is getting really hard for me to write. If I do continue, you should remember that it will take a while for me to update.

So all I have to say is READ AND REVIEW!


	3. Shock

**Disclaimer: **I D O N O T O W N N A R U T O !

"Speak"

'Think'

'**Inner Think'**

_Flashback_

Chapter 2 – Shock

Sasuke finally reached Kakashi-sensei's class, but he made no effort to actually enter the classroom. He grasped the door knob, and opened to door, and was welcomed by the sound of loving sighs and gasps.

"It's Sasuke!"

"Sit by me!"

"No me!"

'Stupid fan girls. I have an idea! Why don't I sit next to none of you?!' Sasuke thought.

Kakashi-sensei put down his oh-so famous orange book and stood up from his desk, "Thank you for finally joining us, Mr. Uchiha. Since you were late, I will assign you your seat instead of letting you pick one." He searched through the whole class to find the perfect spot for Sasuke.

'Okay, where to put you, Mr. Uchiha. How about next to Naruto? Nah, they'll have too much fun, and I can't have that can I? Gaara? No. Too scary. Fan girls? No way. I want to punish him, not kill him.'

Kakashi looked once more, and as the tension grew, he finally had the perfect spot for Sasuke to sit in. "Okay Sasuke you will sit next to…."

Every girl had a quick intake of breath anxiously waiting for the next word that would come out of Kakashi's mouth. Well, every girl besides Sakura.

As Sasuke stood there waiting for his seat, he was secretly praying. 'Please do not let it be a fan girl. I already have enough before and after school. If I have to sit next to one of those….._things_ I won't survive.'

'**NO FAN GIRLS!'**

"Sakura Haruno." Kakashi said with a smile. Well, sort of. No one could really tell what Kakashi's facial expressions were. He always wore a mask that covered half his face. People just thought that he just wore it because he wanted to be a superhero. Who knows?

Every girl gasped, and stared at Sakura with the meanest, coldest, and scariest look to show their anger. In normal circumstances Sasuke would have smirked at his fan girls' reaction, but because of the conversation he had with Sakura this morning…. Well, let's just say he wasn't too happy with it either.

Sasuke reluctantly took his books and walked over to the desk next to Sakura's and took a seat. He sighed and looked over at her. Funny, she wasn't looking at him, and it didn't seem that she even knew he was right there. There she was just reading her book while everyone in the class was talking and Kakashi-sensei was "having fun" reading his book.

'**Hello! I'm sitting right next to you! Are you listening?'**

He tapped his fingers on his desk as an attempt to get her attention. No response. Then he tried tapping his pencil. No response. No one he knew was sitting near him, so the only one that Sasuke could even get close to communicate with was the girl right next to him. He wasn't used to being ignored by others.

As a final attempt, Sasuke loudly cleared his throat loud enough for Sakura to hear. A couple of seconds passed, and Sasuke tried once more. Finally Sakura's head shot up from her book and looked disgustingly at Sasuke.

"Why are _you _sitting here?" Sakura said rudely putting her book down.

Sasuke was shocked; no one _ever _talked like that to him. Not even Naruto. "Well, Kakashi-sensei did assign me this seat."

Sakura's face scrunched, as if she was thinking of something. "Since when?"

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Where has this girl been for the past fifteen minutes? The North Pole? "Since I got to class, and was late."

Sakura put her forefinger on her chin and looked up at the ceiling, "Really? I guess I didn't notice you." And without any further discussion, she went back to her book.

'Not again. Who am I supposed to talk to now? This silence towards me is so abnormal.' Sasuke looked at Sakura, and her book. 'What is she reading that is so interesting?'

He peered over her shoulder to see what she was reading. If she was able to ignore him, the book must be really good. He went closer and closer. He was almost there when Sakura slammed the book shut.

"Sasuke could you stop that?" without even looking at him she knew he was right there. "I think that it's rude for a person to look at what another person is quietly reading."

Okay, Sasuke had enough for one period. "Me? I'm the one being rude? What about you?"

Sakura crossed her arms, and looked at him warily, "What are you talking about?"

'You've got to be kidding me!'

"Are you really that -" Sasuke was about to finish his sentence, but he was cut off, by Kakashi.

He stood up from his desk, and went in front of the chalk board. "Okay, class, well I'd let you guys talk more, but I just remembered that I have to teach you guys something. So just answer this question, and we can go back into whatever we were doing. Capice?" (A/N: Ca-peesh) Kakashi thought for a moment.

The whole class waited impatiently for Kakashi to finish talking. They had other things to deal with at the moment.

Since the class was reading, Kakashi thought that he should ask a question about literature. "Okay, what is the meaning of paradox?" (A/N: Yeah, this was on my test. So the definition is true)

Kakashi looked at the class; no one raised their hands, "Hmm. Who should be my first victim then? No one seems to be participating. How about…Naruto."

Naruto had a worried expression on his face. Of course he didn't know the answer. Maybe if he was in gym, he would know, but not in this subject. "Umm, Kakashi-sensei, are you sure you aren't mistaking me for anyone else. I mean there could be another Naruto in our class besides me. Hehe. Hehe."

Kakashi was laughing along with Naruto, but then he abruptly stopped, "Nice try Naruto, just answer the question."

Naruto looked around for help, but no one seemed to know the answer, "Uh….umm…..is it a sickness? You know like the chicken pox?"

Almost the whole class started to laugh at Naruto's stupidity. Only Naruto would think of that kind of answer.

Kakashi sighed, "No Naruto. It is not a sickness." He paused and looked for anyone else ho had a clue. "Well, since no one knows the answer, let's just ask Sakura. So Sakura, what is the meaning of paradox?"

Sakura was still reading her book when Kakashi asked her for the definition of paradox. The whole class was staring at her, but she seemed oblivious to the whole class. Sasuke couldn't take the awkwardness, and nudged her arm.

Sakura POV

Okay! What is the deal with you Sasuke? Can you leave me alone? How many times must you bother me while I'm reading my book?

I closed my book once again, and was about to tell Sasuke to leave me alone, but Kakashi spoke to me before I could even tell him anything.

"Sakura, are you listening to me?" Kakashi-sensei said with a tone of impatience.

No.

"Sakura, what is the meaning of paradox?"

I have no time for this. I don't even know what the hell that word means. "I don't know."

Kakashi looked at me in surprise. Well, I didn't blame him, I was the smartest person in his class last year, but I don't feel like answering him. "Are you sure?"

"Nope."

Kakashi-sensei sighed, "Are you sure?"

"Yup."

I could sense that Kakashi-sensei was about to blow his casket, but I didn't really care. "Are you even trying to answer my question?"

"Nope."

Kakashi-sensei got quiet, and didn't say anything. I got tired of the silence and picked up my very interesting book and began to read.

Normal POV

The whole class couldn't believe it. Sakura was always the intelligent goody two shoes. Now she was answering back to Kakashi like she did it everyday? Everyone was staring at her once again in awe, but she was oblivious to the world around her.

The class anticipated Kakashi's reaction. At first everyone thought that he was going to give her a detention or worse, but all he did was calmly exhale, and answered the definition himself.

"……The definition of paradox is a statement that contradicts itself. For example, you can say that the silence was ringing in your ears, but how can that be possible? How can the silence ring in your ears? But at the same time it is kind of true." There was a pause, "Well, that's it for your first day. We have about twenty minutes left, so do whatever you guys were doing before."

Kakashi walked to his desk, but with less enthusiasm. He picked up his book, and was going to start reading, but something was bothering him. 'What is wrong with Sakura? She was never like that before? What happened? I better - '

He was about to suggest asking Sakura what the matter was after class, but something caught his eye in his volume of Icha Icha Paradise. 'Oooooo! I can't believe he did that! So interesting! What was I talking about before? Oh well, back to the story'

Sasuke noticed that Kakashi was giggling to himself again. He really hated his book with a passion. 'Looks like his book is very educational.'

'**NOT!'**

Sasuke replayed the whole incident in his mind one more time. He did notice that Sakura had been acting very rude, but he never thought that she would answer back at Kakashi-sensei. He wouldn't even do that. What happened to her?

"Psst. Sakura."

Sakura groaned at the sound of Sasuke's voice, "What do you want now? Everyone keeps interrupting me."

Sasuke pushed that comment aside, "I want to talk to you."

"Can you make it fast?"

Sasuke just went straight to the point, "What is up with you lately? I mean it's only been one day of school so far, but you are acting so weird. What happened to the Sakura last year? You are so…different."

Sakura opened her book once more, but she continued to speak to Sasuke. "Different?"

'Of course I'm acting different!'

_It's all your fault!_

"Yeah different, what do you think? You actually spoke back to Kakashi-sensei? I never really knew you, and you weren't ever really my friend, but -"

Sakura cut him off, "Oh, I feel _so _much better now."

Sasuke brushed that off, "I know from last year, you never acted that way. And – Are you listening to me?"

"Mmhmm?...Oh, yeah whatever. Something about big ears?"

"What are you reading anyway?" Sasuke took the book from Sakura's hands and took a look at it.

"Give that back now Uchiha!" Sakura tried grasping the book back into her hands, but Sasuke was shoving her away. After a while, Sakura realized that the effort was futile, and quit trying.

"_This _is what you're reading? Soul Bleeds by K.S. Wiesner? This is all about dark poetry. You really like reading stuff about this?" Sakura didn't respond. "It says here in _Truth_, 'I followed the nurse down the hallway/feeling as though I'd suddenly woke from a long sleep/And…yet this didn't border on reality/as the nurse rounded the corner/and then another/and disappeared/I called after her/I ran after her/but I was in a maze. I didn't recognize/anything I saw.' This is a piece of shit!"

Sasuke lowered his guard, and Sakura took her chance, and stole the book back form Sasuke. But while she was getting it back, her finger slid across the edge of the grainy paper, and gave her a deep cut on her forefinger.

She dropped the book on the ground as the pain of the paper cut settled in. (A/N: Have you ever noticed that paper cuts hurt a lot?) Her wound started bleeding immensely, but all she could do was stare.

'Blood?' Unconsciously, Sakura began to shudder at the sight of her own blood. The memory came back to her.

_A couple of seconds later, Rei revealed her two wrists once more. Except this time they were different. Blood was oozing out of the scar she just reopened._

Sasuke noticed Sakura's reaction to her own blood, and began to feel worried.

The blood was still oozing, but Sakura didn't feel pain. She didn't know what she felt, but then it came back to her again.

_Rei was smiling._

Sakura felt no pain. But now she understood what Rei was feeling. Although this little paper cut was nothing compared to what Rei did to herself, she felt a little tinge of bliss.

Sasuke noticed something on Sakura's facial features. She wasn't looking at her wound anymore. She was looking straight ahead, but not exactly looking. She was like in some kind of trance. But then he noticed that the corners of her mouth were going up.

'What's going on with her? Is she smiling or is she trying to hide the pain?'

Sasuke saw that the blood was getting worse, but Sakura didn't seem to notice it. "Sakura! Look at your finger!"

Sakura woke up from her trance, and looked back at her finger. "Oh, I'll get a tissue," she said blankly.

For the rest of the period, Sasuke and Sakura stayed silent the whole time. Both were deep in thought.

'What happened to you Sakura?'

'Is this what you felt Rei?'

Chapter 3 finally finished! Yay!

How's it going? I hope you like this chappie. I promise if I get a lot of reviews telling me to update faster I will try my best in two weeks. But don't worry the 4th chapter will be out soon!

GhostofYou


	4. Partners? WTF?

**Disclaimer: **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO !

"Speak"

'Think'

'**Inner Think'**

_Flashback_

Chapter 3 – Partners?! W.T.F.?!

Since the first day of school, the duration between then and now is about three weeks. However, Sakura's new and under improved behavior didn't go unnoticed. Every one of her teacher's saw the radical change, and felt that they needed to stop it. But how?

As a result, Kakashi, Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, and Iruka decided to have a private teacher meeting to discuss how they were going to solve this problem. It was early Monday morning, just about an hour before school started, and each of them was sitting in the teacher's lounge waiting for Kakashi's arrival. They told each other that the desired time to meet would be at 6:30 A.M., and it was already 6:25.

The teachers exchanged worried glances at each other wondering where Kakashi could be. They couldn't do anything without him, but they were all skeptical whether or not he'd show on time. It was on almost everyone's minds, but no one dared to ask. Then Kurenai thought that she should ask, "What if Kakashi doesn't show up on time? We all know how he is, don't we? He usually comes at least two hours late."

"Yes, I've been wondering the same thing. I mean face it, Kakashi is a good teacher and all, but he doesn't take it as serious as we do. The only thing he every pays attention to is that Icha Icha Paradise book." Iruka said troubled. Him and Kakashi have been friends for a long time, but he couldn't help but doubt that he was going to come late.

"But, when the matter is important, Kakashi will pull his own weight. And in this case, the subject is serious and shouldn't be taken lightly. We should have faith that he'll come. Right?" Asuma did have a point. When the dilemma wasn't something to laugh about Kakashi _did_ take charge.

"He _will _be here on time." Iruka, Asuma, and Kurenai turned their bodies to face the source of the voice. It was Gai propping his legs on the table looking at the ceiling.

'Preposterous! How could Gai possible be sure if Kakashi is coming?' Iruka thought. 'Gai and Kakashi were rivals, and here is Gai telling us that he is _sure _that he's coming!'

Kurenai stood from her seat, "How are you sure, Gai?"

He sat up straight and smiled showing his bright teeth giving off a faint _Ping!_ "Simple. You said that Kakashi is usually two hours late, am I correct?"

"Yes, bu-"

"So I told Kakashi that the meeting wasn't at six thirty."

Asuma dropped his pen, "Wait! Then what time did you tell him?"

Gai began to chuckle, "Since he usually comes two hours late, I told him to come at four thirty. Thus, he'll come at 6:30."

"That's a very interesting theory, Gai, but Kurenai said that he _usually _comes two hours late. For all we know, he could come three hours late!" Iruka was still skeptical. Kakashi was a very intricate person to figure out. The guy has no absolute schedule. He just comes whenever he pleases!

"Oh, he'll be here." Gai said reassuringly, but in his mind he was a bit worried. 'Well, he better be.'

Looking at the clock Asuma pointed out an observation, "Gai, it's already a minute past six thirty do you-"

But before he could finish uttering his sentence, Kakashi came through the door. Looking up from his orange book, he was met with three people staring at him wide-eyed, and a green jump suited rival. "Something I miss?"

Kurenai was lost for words. Gai was actually correct! "G-Gai. I can't believe it, but your plan worked!"

"What?"

Iruka jumped to his feet, and pointed at him, "Kakashi! You're actually on time!"

"I am? But Gai told me that the meeting was at 4:30. You're saying I'm on time?"

"Yeah, it's all because Gai had this plan to-" But Asuma ran up to him and covered his mouth before Iruka could say Gai's master plan.

Asuma whispered into Iruka's ear, "SHHH! Don't tell Kakashi what the plan was. Next time we try this, he's going to come later then ever got it?" Iruka nodded, and he was let go almost stumbling to the ground. Asuma cleared his throat, "So, let's begin shall we?"

Kakashi took a seat around the table and everyone sat down waiting for Kakashi to say something. "This meeting is about Sakura's behavior, and I know that I wasn't the only one who saw a drastic change in her." The other teachers nodded in agreement. "We remember from last year that she was one of the best students in our class, always well-behaved and such. But lately, she's been acting up."

"Yes, now Sakura hasn't been doing any of her homework, she's been answering me back in class, and she pays absolute no attention. We can't let this keep up. It's becoming very unhealthy." Iruka added.

"Yes I agree, "Asuma said. "We need to come up with a solution for this. To me it seems like Sakura is heading towards a break down, and that won't lead her to any good. It might lead to something dangerous."

"We do need a solution, but what? How can we possibly know how to fix this when we have no clue to what's going on in her life? What we need to know is what triggered this behavior." Gai countered.

"Don't you think we tried that?" Kakashi rubbed his temples. "I've tried talking to her after class, asking if there was anything wrong, but she stayed unresponsive. Like she was on another world."

While the men were arguing about the matter, Kurenai stayed silent thinking of a way to possibly figure out what's going on in Sakura's head. Gai was right; they needed to know what started Sakura and her actions, but how? They needed to find a possible way to get Sakura to open up to a person. In fact, they were all right, if they didn't do anything, it might just end up in a situation where they all will regret it. Then a light bulb struck over Kurenai's head, and she had an idea, it was a little insane, but it just might work. "Guys."

Iruka, Asuma, and Kakashi looked at her. "I have an idea."

"What kind of idea do you propose" They said in unison.

"You might think that this is crazy, but it might work. I think that we should….."

First Period – Reading – Kakashi

Kakashi was patiently waiting for the class to enter the classroom. The bell would ring in a few minutes, and he made sure that he had his list on his desk. He was prepared to carry out the plan Kurenai suggested. Kakashi had to admit that her plan was strange, but it was the only thing they had right now.

_RING!_

'Time for everything to commence'

Students poured into the classroom with shocked faces seeing the Kakashi was actually in the classroom already. Before Naruto took his seat, he went over by Sasuke with a worried look painted on his face, "Psst, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at Sakura, yet again not knowing his existence, and then faced Naruto, "What do you want, dobe?"

"Don't you see?" He pointed at Kakashi's desk, but Sasuke didn't get the whole picture. "Kakashi-sensei was in the classroom before us. He was actually on time! This is the sign of the apocalypse!" Naruto flailed his arms around to prove his point, but Sasuke still looked at him with no amusement.

He put his arms around Naruto's shoulder, and guided him to his seat, "Naruto, you are my friend, and I feel that I am obligated to tell you this. Get some help." Sasuke left Naruto by his seat, and walked back next to Sakura.

The late bell rang, signaling for the class to quiet down, but since it was Kakashi's class, they continued to talk. But their chatting was cut short when Kakashi got their attention, "Class," he began to say, but they paid no attention. "Class," Still kept on talking. "Class!" Now the class had their full attention on him, except for, well….Sakura. "Now that's better. Class, I've decided that we are going to do many projects this year that involve having partners. So, instead of letting you have different ones each time, I'm going to assign you a partner for the rest of the year."

Everyone in the room remained silent, anticipating for what Kakashi was going to say next. Everyone hoped that they would be paired off with at least someone they knew, but the one who was really anxious was Sasuke. 'Partners? For the rest of the year partners? You've got to be kidding me.' Kakashi started saying pairs of names out loud, boy/girl, girl/girl/, and boy/boy. 'Great, I could be paired up with a fan girl, or worse.' He looked at the girl quietly sitting next to him. He had enough of her attitude toward him, but if they were partners…..Sasuke shuddered at the thought.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Kakashi bellowed. Sasuke looked around the class, and saw that there was still a decent amount of fan girls not paired with anyone. He silently prayed to God that he'd be paired with someone that wasn't going to tear him to pieces or beg him to go on a date. Anyone but them. "You'll be with…"Kakashi looked down at his list. "Sakura Haruno."

Sakura heard what Kakashi said and slammed her book down on her desk. "WHAT?" Everyone was surprised at Kakashi's decision. Why would he pair those two together?

Kakashi ignored Sakura's yell, and continued, "Naruto Uzamaki and Hinata Hyuuga"

Sasuke looked at Sakura. She definitely did not look happy. He looked down at his desk and glared holes through it. 'Why me? When I said 'anyone but them' I meant her too.'

Second Period – Social Studies – Asuma

Putting first period's mishaps aside, Sasuke and Naruto walked into Asuma's classroom walking to their desks next to the window. Patiently waiting for Asuma to begin the class, they saw that he took a white paper off his desk, and walk to the front of the class room. "Okay, I've decided that we are going to do many projects this year that involve having partners. So, instead of letting you have different ones each time, I'm going to assign you a partner for the rest of the year."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and whispered, "Isn't that the same thing Kakashi-sensei just told us?" Sasuke shrugged. It was strange though, why would they do the same thing?

'Hopefully,' Sasuke thought. 'I'll be paired of with someone rather than Sakura.' He heard Naruto get paired off with Kiba, and he mentally smirked. 'Yeah, we'll probably get different partners.'

"Sakura Haruno, you'll be with Sasuke Uchiha."

It was Sasuke turn to stand up, "WHAT?"

Third Period – Math – Gai

'Great, I'm with Sakura again?' Sasuke said to himself. Looking at the green teacher in front of him didn't make him feel any better. 'Math isn't my favorite subject, but maybe things will get better here.'

Gai, like the two teachers before, took a white piece of paper off his desk and walked to the front of the class room. "Youthful students!"

Lee stood up from his desk right in front of Gai's desk, "Class! The honorable Gai-sensei is talking!"

"Thank you Lee. Anyway, I've decided that we are going to do many projects this year that involve having partners. So, instead of letting you have different ones each time, I'm going to assign you a partner for the rest of the year." Gai did his hero pose and the class groaned.

"Again?"

"What is going on?"

Sasuke had the same question to ask. What is with the teachers this year?

After Gai did another hero pose, he regained his posture and read off the top of the list, "Neji Hyuuga and Tenten." The two of them grimaced. From Sasuke's seat he could see that they were so happy to be partners. Not. "Sasuke Uchiha and….."

'Okay, maybe I'll get someone different.'

"Sakura Haruno"

HUH?

Fifth Period – Writing – Kurenai

After lunch Sasuke did not feel any better, and Naruto tried to cheer him up. "Come one Teme! Sakura is kind of cute."

Sasuke almost laughed out loud, "Yeah, if you like the I-Hate-You-Get-Out-Of-My-Way kind of girl."

"Aww. Come on. It's just three classes. There's no chance you'll be paired off again."

'I hope you're right'

Kurenai was already standing by the podium, waiting for the room to quiet down. Once it did, she began to make her speech, "Everyone"

'Oh no, please don't say it.' Sasuke held his breath.

"I've decided that we are going to do many projects this year that involve having partners. So, instead of letting you have different ones each time, I'm going to assign you a partner for the rest of the year. So let's start off with Sasuke Uchiha!"

Looking up to the ceiling, Sasuke was hoping she wouldn't utter the words he expected to hear. "You're with Sakura Haruno!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, "Sorry Teme. I guess I was wrong."

Sixth Period – Science - Iruka

It was the last period of the day, and Sakura was hoping it would be better. 'What the Hell? I've been paired up with _that _Uchiha for the last four classes. And to make it worse, it's for the rest of the year? What is wrong with the teachers? Did they plan this or something? Well maybe if she was here I wouldn't….'

_It's all your fault!_

Iruka came into the class holding yet another white piece of paper, "Hello class" The class responded by saying a greeting and remained silent. "I've decided that we are going to do many projects this year that involve having partners. So, instead of letting you have different ones each time, I'm going to assign you a partner for the rest of the year."

Sasuke grumbled to himself, 'Here we go again."

"Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzamaki." Iruka said happily

Sasuke looked surprised, 'Maybe there is a God!'

Sakura looked up from her desk, and sighed. At least she wasn't with the Uchiha.

"Wait," Iruka looked back down at his list. "Whoops, I read the wrong name. It's actually Sasuke Uchiha and…."

'Please don't say it' Sasuke and Sakura thought at the same time.

"Sakura Haruno"

Sakura pounded her fist on the wooden desk, 'YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!'

The school bell rang, and the class exited the room preparing to leave for their homes. Sasuke and Naruto finished at their lockers, and began to walk out of the building. "Naruto," Sasuke began. "I think the teachers set this all up."

"Set up what?" Naruto said puzzled.

"You know, this partner for the rest of the year shit. I bet they planned on Sakura and me being paired up every single time. That's the only way you can explain it. Everyone got different partners each class, but we've been the same."

Naruto started laughing hysterically, "Sasuke, get some help. That's crazy I mean-Whoa!" Naruto was bumped by Sakura, but she didn't turn around until she saw Sasuke. She walked right up to him and began to talk.

"Look, Uchiha." She said.

"My name is Sasuke" he growled.

She took her finger and poked it into his chest, "Fine _Sasuke, _we're partners for every single class, but let's get this straight. Just because we are partners doesn't mean that I'm going to start being all nice to you, got it? I hate you and you hate me, and that's that." Sakura began to walk away, and Sasuke held out his hand for Naruto to grasp.

"Teme, what's her problem?"

'I don't know'

WOO HOO! FOURTH CHAPTER DOWN!

Sorry for the late update, winter break got in the way. Yay there was no school today and I had time to finish this. Snow Days ROCK!

Tell me what you think of this chapter. Oh and by the way, I have two new one-shots out, but they're not SASUSAKU or anything, but I want you guys to read them and see if they're good or not. I'd really appreciate it.

GhostofYou

P.S. READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!

P.S.S. This would've come sooner, but the document on fan fiction wouldn't accept my chapter! Gr!


	5. I'm In This Mess, Why?

**Disclaimer: **If I ever, ever, ever own a piece of Naruto, I'll be sure to call you.

Chapter 4 – I'm In This Mess, Why?

Sakura POV

How? How did I _ever _get into this situation? Sure, I knew it was going to be big, I'm not stupid, but just not _this _big. Going past huge picture frames and other elegant furniture my mother could only dream about, I saw yet another end of the corridor that split into two other halls. One could only imaging the possibilities of hiding places in this house, er, mansion. Seriously, how many rooms does this place have? I lost count at twenty nine. What's the use of having that many rooms anyway? It's not like you can sleep in them all at the same time, and it's not like you will have more than thirty people staying at your _mansion_. Still unable to choose whether to go right or left, a rather humorous thought ran through my brain. Maybe Sasuke chooses a different room to sleep in each night because he's afraid someone or something will get him. It was rather amusing to think about, but of course this was reality, not some interesting imaginary world I call my mind. Sasuke probably wouldn't be frightened like that so easily, it was just to _Hollywood. _I thought the word with much venom I could possibly muster. Yeah, Sasuke is too manly to actually move into a different room each night, but still. A small smile crept up my face, not only because of my imagination but because I called Sasuke _manly_. Psshh. Manly, yeah right.

Okay, I need to focus. Should I go right or left? Which way did I go last time? I tried to remember the vague memory I had at the last turn I made about fifteen minutes ago. It seemed just too long ago, it was just a blur to me. Great, now I'm getting forgetful, this is not a good sign. This hou—mansion was making me lose my mind! All these turns, all these rooms, and him, I hate it all! Let me leave already! Just being here was plain torture for me. But the sad truth hit me for two reasons. One, I was already lost in the first place, so there no chance of me getting out of here anytime soon. Two, in my heart I knew that it wasn't _all_ the mansion's fault for making me go crazy, and it wasn't _all _of his fault either. It was mine. All entirely mine and I just can't seem to let go that it _is _my fault that she is . . .

. . . dead.

_It's all your fault!_

Feeling dizzy.

_It's all your fault!_

Spinning.

_It's all your fault!_

It's all a blur.

_It's all your fault!_

Stop.

_It's all your fault!_

Make it stop.

_It's all your fault!_

Just make it stop!

_It's all your fault!_

I couldn't stand straight any longer, and leaned against the off-white evenly painted wall. Landing harder than expected, some of the hanging frames tremored daring to fall to the ground. Images from the event that happened only months before came back for its daily haunting. Just like it was yesterday, and just like it will be tomorrow and forever. There is no way for me to escape it. A few minutes passed, but it wasn't like it would make any difference, I was still lost. Rubbing my temples to ease the pain, I regained my posture and saw that a few picture frames were a bit lopsided. One by one I put them in a presentable fashion, after all I wouldn't want Sasuke to see that I messed up his very, very, very, neat mansion.

As I was fixing the last portrait, something about it caught my eye. Through the clear gleaming glass, was group of four people. Two adults, one male and one female, and two small children, both male, were standing tall and proud with smiles gleaming for the camera. With no doubt I knew this was Sasuke's family, and it was obvious that Sasuke and his brother got their looks from their mother—wait, brother? Moving closer, about an inch from the glass I scruntized each of the boys' faces. The taller one, who looked about five years older, wasn't Sasuke seeing that he had these lines things on his cheeks. High cheekbones possibly? But what struck me fascinating were the fact that the expression on this boy's face was an inconceivably, sullen frown placed upon his face, while the whole family was practically gleaming. It struck me odd that Sasuke never mentioned any of his family to me or anyone else I knew before, what was the big secret?

The picture in a sense, captivated me and I stayed there looking at it, until I realized that I still hadn't chosen which way to go. Glance to the right, long, dark hallway with a barely noticeable light switch at the end, glance to the left, brighter hallway but extremely longer. I huffed in agitation. The brighter one seemed safer, but at the length of it, I don't know if I might reach the United States by the end of it. Last time I believe I chose to go left, so I guess I'm going to go right?

It was only me and the dark hallway, and the sound of me and my light breathing. One foot, two foot, one, two. Good, I'm making some progress. One, two, one, two. The clicking from my shoes continued in an even pace, like a metronome. One, two, one, two, clik, clak, clik, clak. In my mind, I thought I'd make it to that light switch in no time. But more than once I bumped my head on various objects, like tables, chairs, plants, and the ever so famous hard wall. After five minutes, I think I already lost about seven brain cells. Well, I can cross out getting out of high school with a full head. _Thwack! _Yet, it happens again. Forehead meet wall, wall meet forehead, I hope you get fully acquainted. Forget leaving high school, I just hope I'll get out of here with a full head.

The light switch seemed like it was getting closer, and I quickened my pace. All I really cared about was getting out alive. My feet were aching, but I kept going on, just had to reach that switch. Soon, I found myself practically jogging, but why wasn't I there yet? _Creeeeeak! _A sudden creak echoed and bounced off the wall forcing me to stop in mid-jog. It sounded like a door opening on rusty hinges, but the source of the din was undetectable. _Boom! _A loud booming crash, ripped through the humid air, and I could feel something was getting closer. _Boom! _There it is again! There was no reason for me to stick around, so I began sprinting. Booms and crashes were becoming more frequent, but the switch just seemed _so_ close. The back of my calves tensed with each striding step. Just a little more, telling myself over and over again. The lack of light wasn't helping me at all, and I still went into things. I even think I knocked something down, but I didn't care, all that needed to be done was go to the measly switch.

Panting, the breath was taken right out of my lungs, but it felt like it was just in my reach. This corridor was definitely longer than I expected, maybe going left was better than being in this hell hole. Right there, just a little more, come on, keep going. There. It was ten feet from my position, and I just stood there trying to regain the air that was just lost. Sharp breaths went through my nostrils, breathing so hard that it hurt while going down my respiratory system. It was there that the energy that I lost running came catching up to me because all of a sudden, I could feel the muscle I had in my legs stiffening shooting pain up my spine. It felt as if two opposing forces were yanking on the muscle tissue in opposite directions, like a tug of war game, but it was excruciating. I actually felt bad for the rope when thinking about all the time people fooled around and played tug of war, I knew exactly how it felt. Placing my right palm against the barely visible wall, I shifted my weight on it to support me. It took a couple moments and a few more sucks of air, and everything was back to normal. If that's what you call normal.

A serious expression graced my once fatigued manner, and I slowly walked up to what I was looking for. Tuning out all sounds, every other object was suddenly gone, giving a quite tranquil environment. With each step, it was getting nearer, but something also happened unexpectedly. It was also getting larger. Of course, when you get closer to an object, it will ultimately get larger in size, but at the rate this switch was growing was ridiculous. For some time, my eyes had gotten used to the darkness, but my surroundings were still a bit uneasy to comprehend. But it was right there, right in my grasp, I just needed to touch it, but when I did, the truth can really hurt.

I can tell you, it made my spirits of escaping this place fall into a pit of despair. It was no light switch, I was sure, it was a fucking clock. Then I looked out past the fucking clock, and saw it. The hallway wasn't even nearly close to the end.

Sasuke POV

What the hell could possibly be taking her this long to go find the bathroom? Laying down on my navy blue sheeted bed, in my dark blue painted room, in my enormous mansion—which irritates the hell out of me because I hardly ever go anywhere else here except my room—I loudly sighed to let my irritancies out of my system. Glaring at the plain white ceiling, I turned my attention to the digital clock standing on my table with its constant red blinking numbers, then back at the ceiling to continue my glaring contest. Friday, October fourth, Naruto's birthday is coming up, right? It's somewhere between the ninth and the twelfth, don't remember, I'll ask someone later. 5:15 P.M. Great, it's already 5:15 on a Friday, and I could be out doing something else, but no, I'm stuck here with some stupid project I have to do with _that_ girl. Sakura Haruno.

"_Class," Kakashi started. The whole class knew when he started the period with the word 'class', it meant that they had to do something. But not any something, it meant something as in school work. Almost everyone's attention was grabbed to the front of the class, and groaned because through Kakashi's mask, a little smirk could be seen. This wasn't going to be fun work is it, I thought. He said nothing more, and turned his back toward them, going into his desk taking a stack of folders setting them on his rolling podium. The student's stared at the manila folders with curiosity, as Kakashi still waited a few moments. I couldn't help but feel a tinge of curiosity along with the class. But I knew whatever it was; personally, I wasn't going to like anything that would some out of Kakashi's mouth. There was a saying about this, what was it? Oh yes, 'Curiosity killed the cat.'_

_But who was going to be the stupid 'cat' to ask Kakashi exactly? Naruto. How predictable. I can't say I'm surprised it was him. The blonde rose his hand straight, but didn't wait for Kakashi to call on him, and began shouting. "Kakashi-sensei! What are we going to do with those folders? It must be important because you're just standing there staring at us!" Heads turned, even Sakura's did, surprisingly, at Naruto then back at Kakashi waiting for a response. This must've sparked her attention, because Sakura put down her book. _

_There were only two circumstances that would make Sakura put down her book. After sitting next to her for nearly a month, it was clear to me. She only put her book down to 1. Snap, insult, or glare at me, and 2. listen to something because something caught her attention. Reason number two hardly ever occurred—nothing was really _ever_ interesting in this class. Majority of time, Sakura just wanted to put me down because of my 'bull.' But now, this had to be a topic that had gotten her attention for once. _

_Naruto shrunk back in his seat, when he saw the whole class staring directly at him. And from his seat a tiny squeak was heard, "Sorry." But Kakashi did not yell or lecture him about calling out in class, which did astonish Naruto, causing him to magically 'grow' back straight on his chair. "No, Naruto it's okay, I won't get upset this time." Kakashi was walking back and forth in front of the students as he was talking. "Actually, I'm glad someone asked me. Everyone, sit down next to your assigned partners." Before anyone moved, Naruto tried an attempt to do one of Gai's and Lee's heroic poses on top of his desk. He held on for about two seconds, but it all came crashing down. Literally. I saw it all, he landed flat on his face, legs kicking wildly in the air. No one even bothered to help him, except for his blushing partner, Hinata. Shuffling to get next to their partners, I had no trouble of getting next too mine, because she was sitting right there, next to me. _

_There was no use for me to say anything to her because I knew it would end up the same, like always. Me trying to say something out of the kindness of my heart . . . Not. Okay, it started with me questioning what in the world she was doing. And it ended the same, but with slightly different endings of snapping, insulting or just telling me to, in her words, 'Shut the hell up.' Never in my life had I ever met a girl like her so . . . so . . . different. But not in a good unique different. Definitely not that. She was more like a recluse different. A loner. Kind of reminds me of, well me. Sakura seems to be self-preserved, and doesn't like to be around a lot of people. Maybe she hasn't changed much from last year, I'd only seen her around with Ino, and that other girl, who was it again? It was similar this year, but she's hardly ever with Ino during the school day, but who was that other girl? Well, I hadn't gotten my daily 'shut the hell up' yet, "Sakura who was—" But I was only greeted with a simple 'Leave me alone.' What an attitude. God, if you are listening, I have one question. What did I ever do to you to deserve this? But in my little query, a folder plopped right in front of me and Sakura. We looked at it in wonder, but neither of us touched it. The sounds of more folder plopping filled the air, but still neither of us even did anything with the folder. Looking at her expectantly to open it, I paused, but she continued to stare at it like she had x-ray vision. So I felt that it was obligatory for me to have the authority to open it. _

_Inside, was a stapled packet of white computer paper. I read the title and saw that it read, __The Fall of the House of Usher__ by Edgar Allan Poe. Sakura rose her eyebrows and I knew immediately I probably wouldn't like the story if Sakura found it quite interesting. Once Kakashi stopped handing out each manila folder to every group he stopped and began talking. "Everyone, you each got a different story written by Edgar Allan Poe, father of the mystery genre of book, so you can thank him for that. This will be the first assignment for you using your partners, so I would like to see some effort from you guys." Effort? The only effort I think Sakura will show is to complain about her partner, me. "The assignment is as follows, you must read your stories very carefully. I say carefully because Edgar Allan Poe isn't the easiest person to read about trust me. His stories reflect on his life and his actions. So I would like you and your partner to write a literary review on the story you receive about how it reflects on Poe's life." Prefect, just perfect. _

A low grumble came from me, as I thought about the moment that only occurred a few hours earlier in my head. Sitting back up straight with my legs hanging off the ledge of my bed, I looked down at what we had so far. "A Literary Review on The Fall of the House of Usher By Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno" Wow, seventeen words in, let's see, two hours. We're off to a good start. Yeah, right. All we did was read the story—well I did considering I was the one reading it aloud because Sakura was just staring at a huge heap of nothing. However, from what I observed was happening she was listening intently because her eyebrows would furrow at certain areas where things got complicated. She seemed like she didn't care, but I think we both knew we had to finish this project because it was due in two weeks because apparently we are seniors and we should be able to finish this faster than ever. Even with that fact, Sakura was still giving a hard time. 5:21. Just a few more minutes, I bet she's coming back right now.

Moments passed, and she wasn't back in my room yet. How long does it take to find the bathroom? It's already been more than thirty minutes; I guess I have no choice but to look for her. I grunted as I got off my bed going to the mahogany door. This was going to take an excruciatingly long time. There was no way I'd be able to find Sakura in couple of minutes, my manor was really ample, and there is a possibility Sakura had gotten lost in my maze of corridors. This was going to be a load of enjoyment. Going in twists and turns around each corner, expecting to see Sakura, nothing seemed to be there, which agitated me more than ever. At first, her getting lost in my abode seemed preposterous, but now that I'm going around and around and around, I could see how easily _anyone _could get lost. Fortunately for me, the floor plan of the house was naturally known to me, but for Sakura, she would have to go searching in circles until she found whatever she was looking for. I guess it's called karma. But at the rate I was going, I think I was having the same karma as Sakura was facing. Idiot. Uchihas do not believe in that crap; I think Sakura's abnormality is rubbing off on me. I definitely need to get out more.

At the next turn I made, I saw a closed door at end. To me, it seemed like each course of the different hallways were in its own way, extremely extended. It was such a hassle just to reach from start to finish. And at each of the four walls enveloping me were dozens of family portraits and pictures of times when we were younger. But they were old pictures, none of them were new. I never bothered putting up anything up, but in reality I never really liked these pictures hanging on the wall. They usually bring painful memories. Each time I look at them I feel jealousy, hate, grief, but most of all failure. There were many times like I felt that I could just tear them down, and hide them in the attic, but I couldn't bring myself up to do it. It felt like I was trying to forget my family, like I was disobeying them, so I left them up, but still with a feeling of horrible memories.

I finally reached the closed door after my trek, and turned the knob, but was greeted with complete darkness. The hinges of the aged doorway showed, as it made the loudest creak echoing around me. Immediately after my first step into this _lovely_ course, I was enshrouded my black. My eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet, so I was walking blindly through humid air. There was no way for me to see anything, so I desperately tried to look for a way to turn on the lights. Outstretching my arms forward, I felt around the walls to find the familiar rectangular shape on the wall. I must've tripped on something, because the next thing I knew, I was losing my balance but with a swift movement grabbed onto a table. However, this only caused one of the delicate frames to fall off one of the nails to the ground. When the sound of the crash was finally heard, it didn't show any signs of the glass breaking which gave me some relief. But there was no time to go and pick it up, it had to be here somewhere.

There. I felt it between my fingers, and quickly flipped the switch to on, but to no avail nothing new had happened. It stayed dark, as I continuously flipped it up and down again. God damn it! Note to self: remember to fix the lights. In my anguish I punched the wall, creating yet another loud boom. But I didn't care, it's not like anyone would notice. However sounds of running footsteps were getting nearer, it must've been Sakura. I quickly left everything the way it was as I fast walked to wherever I heard the running coming from. It wasn't a pushover getting there, constantly bumping into things; I would make the loudest raucous in the whole place, which probably making Sakura run even faster. No use trying to call her name then. By the time the day is over, the bruises on me will probably be too many to count because with each passing second something else was being bumped into or dropped. All that needed to be taken care of was that I find Sakura before she gets lost again and we eventually die of starvation or something.

Normal POV

Inch by inch, both Sakura and Sasuke were unknowingly coming closer and closer to each other. There was no booming, but it was indeed quieter, a lot quieter. But neither wanted to make anything noticeable, for they knew not what was up ahead. Each tried to look around, but there was nothing to be seen in this looming darkness. After a while, both of them decided that no one could possibly be there, and their pace quickened to finally get what they needed to be done. Find a way out. But not even realizing each other's presence, they saw one dark figure standing before them, thus causing them to stop in their tracks.

'Who is that?' they thought simultaneously, but shrugged off the question figuring that it was just their eyes and continued. Taking turns at looking at the opposite walls to the right and left of them, they couldn't even feel something or someone near them, in fact almost directly in front of them. In turn, Sakura was met with something hard, covered with clothing, and Sasuke was met with something short that crashed into him with great speed. The both of them clashed and made a dull thump on the wooden floor, causing Sasuke to grunt in agitation.

'What the hell? If this is Sakura, then she better get ready because I'm going to—' Sasuke saw the person he bumped into get onto her feet, seeing that it was in fact a girl and saw it was the person he was searching for. 'Yeah, it's Sakura.' He opened his mouth to say something, but noticed that he was still on the ground, and pushed himself up straight. "Sakura, where have you been? I've been waiting for a long time, and I've been looking—"

"Sasuke . . ." Sakura began cutting in mid-sentence, but stopped for a brief moment to stop. For the whole duration of her _quest_ to find her way back, she didn't have the time to actually rest for more than a few seconds, and now she felt that it was a good time to calm down. She wasted enough time all ready, what difference would two more minutes make? Placing her left hand on the wall brushing against its even coating, she heard it._ Click!_ And just like that . . . the lights came on.

Sasuke's eyes took a while to adjust to the brightness, and saw that Sakura was closing her eyes, presumably in deep thought. But did he care? No. "Sakura, where have you been? How long does it take to find the fucking bathroom? You are such a—"

"Sasuke . . . Sasuke . . . you . . . you" Sakura gritted through her teeth. 'Does he want to make me angry? What kind of _genius_ put the working switch in the middle of the hallway? I'm going to pommel that pompous pig!'

Calm thoughts.

Think of something soothing.

A sunny beach, with the calm waves crashing against the shore.

Breathe in and out.

But the scenery changes.

Sasuke suddenly appears.

"Sasuke . . . you"

Sasssssuke you . . .

Wait! Calm—

"You . . ."

FORGET IT!

"YOU ARE AN IDIOT!" Sakura voice projected louder than ever, shouting right in front of Sasuke's face. But he was taller, she had to go on her tip toes but still wasn't able to meet his height. Either way, the sight was frightening.

This flustered Sasuke, he started clench his fists until his knuckles turned white. "I'm the idiot?! Well excuse me, I'm not the one who took more than an hour to go to the restroom!"

"I wasn't planning too!"

"You could have fooled me!"

"Well I wouldn't have to try too hard!"

"Are you calling me stupid?!"

"What do you think!"

"I think—"

"Oh! I didn't even know you could think at all!"

"How would you know! I don't even know how your brain manages to function with your wide forehead!"

"At least I'm sane enough to have a light switch in the beginning of the hallway!"

Back and forth, the insults and shouting were aimed at each other, but neither seemed to be winning in this battle of the words.

"What are you doing here anyway?! Why didn't you just come to my room?!"

"I was trying to! But—!"

"So why didn't you?"

"I am but—"

"So lead the way." Sasuke said coolly, smirking like he won this quarrel.

"How can you expect me to go to your fucking room when your house—mansion has fucking a million different hallways and I got fucking lost!"

"So I was stuck looking for—you were lost?" Sasuke stopped having the reality face him. Whoops.

"What do you think?! Yeah, I would really take an hour to go to the bathroom!"

Strike one. Two words: total stupidity. "Well I didn't think—"

"Exactly! You didn't think!"

Strike two. One word: excuses. "I did come looking for you didn't I?"

"Yeah, after an hour!"

Strike three. No words needed.

Sakura heard no response from Sasuke and huffed, "Sasuke, just lead the way." He furrowed his eyebrows, but gave in and led the way letting Sakura trail behind. "Oh and Sasuke . . ."

Sasuke turned around, and saw that she stopped in her tracks, so he did also. She was coming up to him until they were about two feet away from each other. He had no idea what was going to happen next, and felt a bit anxious but still stood his ground waiting for whatever was coming his way. But again she got closer, and stopped and smiled sweetly. Didn't buy it.

"Do yourself a favor," Sakura said in a sing song voice, but the vibe of energy surrounding her suddenly changed. "GO BUY YOURSELF A BRAIN!"

O.O

Sasuke just stood there, trying to absorb what Sakura just said. How dare she! How dare she talk— "What are you waiting for?" she poked into his chest. "We have a project after all, and I think we both want to get pass at least one sentence for today."

Grumbling, Sasuke continued but couldn't help thinking to himself, 'Why?'

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YOU'RE OUT!

Yeah, yeah it's been over like two or three months, and I haven't updated, but I'm really bummed.

No ones really reading my other stories, this being one of them.

I'm so tired most of the time.

Getting in a lot of trouble with people

There's more, but the first one is really why I haven't been updating. No one seems interested, so I'll update slower, this is also happening to 'Familiar'. Kinda sux, cuz I work hard on these chaps.

So yeah, I worked pretty hard so that's all . . . Read and Review!

GhostofYou


	6. Good, Bad, and Tutoring?

**Disclaimer: **There comes a time when every writer realizes that they will never own Naruto. I happen to be one of them, so now I'm going to sit in a corner and cry.

Chapter 5 – Good, Bad, and Tutoring?

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Sasuke POV

Okay, what? Just read over, it's no big deal. My eyes grazed over it once more, but after I finished, the words spun around my brain like a never ending carousel. Maybe just one more time, and I'll understand it more. This time, I went over it slower, and it did make some sense, yet the entire meaning was still an enigma. We were both sitting on my full sized bed, reading what we had to do for our project assigned by Kakashi. On my part, patience was running incredibly low. After what happened in the hallway fifteen minutes ago was still fresh on my mind, and I couldn't concentrate. Party because of the fact that we apparently got one of the more advanced stories, so it wasn't easily comprehendible, and the eerie quietness filling my room was, in a simple term, awkward. Saying I felt guilty would be a lie, yet I couldn't help but feel that I should feel wrong about what just happened. Did I feel utterly horrible about leaving Sakura for an hour to fend for herself in the endless house I dare call a home? No I did not. How about not attempting to go and look for her after the first sign she wasn't coming back? No I did not. What about letting my anger get the better of me, instead of considering the most logical reason to why Sakura took forever? No I did not. In fact, all seemed well with me, but at the same time, it felt wrong too. After bombarding her with my queries, ultimately making her furious, there was no sorry that came from either of us. Somehow, it felt weird not to feel the guilt.

Perhaps, I believed it was what she deserved for her odd actions to the people around her. Perhaps, it was the fact that we've hardly spoken in a civilized manner besides the quibbles we have with every encounter. Perhaps. However, we haven't said a word to each other when we arrived back in my room. All we did was go back to our previous spots, and actually began to read our story. Suddenly, it hit me that I haven't been reading but instead was thinking about matters that weren't important at the moment. Sakura must've been far ahead of me by now, but I did not dare to look or ask her where she was because the lack of arguments was just was I needed. My whole body felt stiff, so stretching out and changing my seating position my concentration was set to the paper in front of us.

"I have said that the sole effect of my somewhat childish experiment—that of looking down within the tarn—had been to deepen the first singular impression. There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my superstition—for why should I not so term it?—served mainly to accelerate the increase itself. Such, I have long known, is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. And it might have been for this reason only, that, when I again uplifted my eyes to the house itself, from its image in the pool, there grew in my mind a strange fancy—a fancy so ridiculous, indeed, that I but mention it to show the vivid force of the sensations which oppressed me. I had so worked upon my imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion and domain there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity—an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn—a pestilent and mystic vapour, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible and leaden-hued."

Yeah, it made so much sense to me now that my life has been altered to a new perspective. Looking at the top of the previous page, the year this was published was clearly bolded. "The Fall Of The House Of Usher 1839." This composition was written over one hundred years ago, but I knew that it would be in the nineteenth century. Of course we've read other works form other authors from this time. I'm not ignorant, the way people used to speak would definitely be different than today. However, it wasn't difficult to read everything else, and I automatically thought that Edgar Allan Poe wouldn't be too difficult understand. This author took it to a whole new level, all the words he put together hardly made any sense at all, and the run-on sentences were too much, that I nearly forgot what I just read. Kakashi was actually right, Poe wasn't a walk in the park, and because of that I knew he gave us this assignment because he knew the class would be struggling to get this done. Therefore, he wouldn't have to teach so he could read his "important" books.

Knowing that I had wasted enough of our precious time daydreaming, I couldn't allow myself to encounter more distractions and let Sakura get too far ahead of me. However, curiosity came over me, and I wondered how far she had gotten. Seeing that neither of us had turned to the third page yet, she must've been as lost as I was. Mentally smirking to myself, I found it quite funny that I thought she could possibly understand more than I did already. Preposterous! There was no way that Sakura could comprehend what was going on in the story. Thinking back to the first day of school, she didn't even attempt to answer Kakashi's question. Taking school seriously wasn't her priority any longer, so what made me think that she was doing anything useful? Probably grazing over our short story, I would have to be left to do our project while she laid back. But how are we—am I going to able to accomplish this tedious task when wee were only on page two of ten and it was due in two weeks?

Stress wasn't good for anyone, so instead of reading, my curiosity kept urging me to see how Sakura was doing. Glancing to my left side, Sakura was sitting cross-legged with a notebook sprawled upon her knees, tapping her pencil on the paper and looking intently at the page. Her eyes were quickly moving from left to right going downward until she reached the end of the paragraph, and when I thought she was going to finally go ahead, she suddenly went back up and started reading again. Softly scoffing, I couldn't help but smile at the sight before me. She wasn't getting it either. Then the tapping stopped, and my attention was again on her; Sakura's eyebrows furrowed and she rested her chin on the palm of her left hand, unconsciously edging closer to the story. In that position she stayed for what seemed like a long minute, and then she sat up straight once more and began writing something in her notebook. What was happening before him was quite bewildering. If you were just entering this room right now, the scenery would look absolutely fine. But in my eyes, I saw that for a fraction of a moment, Sakura looked normal, like a real person who cared about getting their assignment over with. Eyeing my own notebook below me, I saw that there were more than a few but less than a lot of things written down, but I wanted to know what Sakura had just written.

Hoping she wouldn't notice, I moved slightly to her, and craned my neck down to see what she was putting down. Was it something useful or pointless? The only way to find out was to see for myself. As I came close enough to see, it was surprising to find out what she did and didn't do. She _did_ do something. She _didn't_ slack off. She _did_ take her time to scribble the right thing. She _didn't _say a word while she was working. But the most interesting thing that stood out to me was that she _did_ more than me. Darting from her to mine, I saw that mine was about two fifths of what she wrote down and we were only on the second page! Well, I was possibly overanalyzing Sakura's behavior; after all, she was considered the most intelligent person in out class last year. It's just her persona has changed completely—why is it that she doesn't try at school, but once she's out of there she's a little back to normal? Never mind, it's not my problem to deal with, as long as she's doing something, I could really care less. Again, I inched closer to see what she was writing down, but this time I read its content. Skimming over the last couple things she wrote, it was hard to admit, but it was really in depth. I would have never came up with most of the things she's analyzed. Maybe having Sakura as a partner would be so bad after all . . .

It struck me kind of strange how Sakura didn't notice me watching what she was writing the whole time, but it was a lot better that way. I'd rather her not call me an idiot again, or any other intriguing insults she has in her brain. Lifting her pencil, I knew she must've been reading the context over, and until the pencil went back, I took my eyes off her and tried to look deeper into this so-called famous story. There, hopefully what I just put down was good enough, but something told me it wasn't. Whatever, all I had were three words to express my feelings toward the man who published this idiotic piece of shit. I. Hate. You. Well, there's another addition to my ever growing hate list—just goes on and on. Then I heard it again, the familiar sound of rustling papers kept together by a single metal spiral. It seemed as if the vibration of this tiny movement was ripping through the already quiet air. Taking my former position, I saw Sakura's hand scribbling wildly on the light blue lines. Seeming like only a few seconds, her hand lifted, and I could see what she wrote more clearly. What I was reading still took me by surprise, but I was getting used to it, and was just reading because of my nagging curiosity. Finally, I was reaching the last bullet, but once I saw the first word, my eyes widened, but still forced me to go on. It read:

"Sasuke, I know you've been reading everything I've been writing. I'm not an idiot. Did you really think you could pull it off without me noticing? Can you just leave me alone to do my work, so we can get it over with already? I didn't say anything at first because I was still trying to calm down, but seriously, how long do you have to keep scrutinizing me?"

Again, the pencil descended, and strangely, the writing was solely slanting right off the line, "Oh, and can you move over? I felt you lean closer, and I want you to go away now. I find it very—" There was no need for me to continue, the point was already made. However, a strange feeling came over me, Sakura was still writing as far as I could tell, but I sensed something else. In a very slow manner, my head tilted upwards, and I saw that she was looking at me the whole time she was writing her little message. I didn't even attempt to cover what I was doing, so moving further right, there was no emotion emitting from me and just went back to what I was doing earlier.

That is, until I felt her eyes penetrating through me.

"Why?" Came her voice, causing me to briefly stop. Her question caught me off guard, it wasn't the question, no, it was the way it was said. There wasn't any venom or annoyance masked within this single word, it was more or less with the essence of pure incredulity. Weird, I've gotten used to that so much, I was waiting for the hatred from her. But I didn't want to look at Sakura anymore, now that I was discovered. But in the end . . . I did.

Putting everything down and aside, I gradually forced myself to rotate. Time to face her. Time to face the music. But I'll play dumb first, maybe she'll forget about her question. "Why what?"

Now I truly regretted peering at her because she was organizing all her things in one neat pile—including the accursed story—and also went to face me. "Come on, I know your not called a prodigy for nothing, Sasuke."—I stayed blank, and Sakura sighed; was it working?—"Why would you bother looking at what I wrote? It doesn't seem like the 'Uchiha' thing to do." Was she mocking me? The whole time she was staring at me void of any emotion on her face or her voice. But still, I could send she was trying to irritate me. I swear, she finds new ways every day to belittle me.

It was simple enough to answer, but I did not know what to say. There could be a chance that I'd make myself look like an idiot, thus proving her right about me. And I will not make myself look like a fool to the likes of her. Then an idea sparked, if I don't say anything, she'll drop the topic and pretend nothing happened. So there I stayed. Not trying to answer, but at the same time, not trying to go back to work. When I assumed she wasn't going to press any longer, I turned around, but Sakura cleared her throat, causing me to whirl back to her. "Hello, didn't you hear me you arrogant bastard! Don't think just because you are the mighty Sasuke Uchiha that you have the right to brush me off. I asked you a question, and I expect you to answer it!"

Ah, now there's the hatred I was looking for. Perhaps, it's the time for me to finally retaliate. The time for me to tell her to leave _me_ alone. The time for me to drown _her_ out. The time for me to teach her to show respect for _me_. . . . But I didn't. There was no way I'd sink down to her level. Come to think of it, why was I even afraid to answer her? Exactly, there was no reason. I am Sasuke Uchiha, and I'm afraid of no one. Especially teenage girls. But especially a teenage girl whose name was Sakura Haruno. "First off, don't call me an arrogant bastard, and don't think you're the only one who wants to be finished already."—at this point it didn't see she was interested with what I had to say about her attitude—"But the reason why I was checking on you was because if _you_ haven't noticed we're only on page two. I felt I was the only one who was feeling a little anxious if we were going to be able to complete this in time. Therefore, I had to see if you did _anything_ at all. Turns out you were, actually you were doing a lot. So I went ahead and started reading what you had because we're going to have to do that sooner or later."

Seemed she was finally taking some notice of me, but as my last word was said, her right eyebrow rose in amusement. "That's a nice explanation but . . ." Sakura trailed off, and a small smirk creeping on her pale face. Sasuke never really took notice before, but Sakura has gotten extremely pale this year, was that healthy? But I wasn't supposed to focus on that right now; I wanted to know what she leading to. "You and I both know that isn't the whole truth, is it?" Shit. I glanced to my closed notebook, and pictured what I've written so far. Wrong move. Sakura's eyes followed his, and her smirk grew. "_Is_ it?" She emphasized, making me feel like a helpless bug. I didn't want to say the whole truth,—turns out she was right about my explanation—but the way Sakura was looking at me made me furious. She was looking at me as if I was a pesky little child. She repeated herself, "_Is it_?"

God, that made me angry, so I _had_ to tell her. God, I hate this. God, I hate her. So. Much.

Sakura canted, "I'm Wai-ting"

Rolling my eyes, I sighed in defeat, and began, "This Edgar Allan Poe stuff, is totally pointless. It reminds me of the fucking book you _always_ read—what was the name? Oh yeah, like that Soul Bleeds poetry book."—out of nowhere I seemed to hype up more, putting all my anger into my words—"This—this _piece of shit_ is so difficult to understand, was he drunk or on drugs when he wrote this? I only put a few things down, and wondered how you were doing. I didn't imagine you'd get _anything_ about it if _I_ was having trouble, so I wanted to see if you had anything useful at all. And you did. You had more than I thought I could get. All I saw you doing was continually writing copious notes, and my curiosity wanted to see exactly you were writing. As it turns out, it was more than expected, and I just kept on reading—that is until I was caught. What the hell is the point of 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher'? To me, it's just another one of Kakashi's way of lazy teaching." God, how many times does she have to dent my pride each day? Grunting in discomfort, "Are you happy _now_?"

That's when something weird occurred in front of me, Sakura came off my bed, and walked to the my window. She brought up her index finger on the glass, as if she was tracing the scenery outside my window. Her hand jerked back, and then closed into a tight fist onto the glass once more. Sakura stayed there quite some time, not moving an inch. It was my turn to come off my bed, and I walked toward her, and when I was only a foot away from her back, she lazily went to face me—hand still on the window. The expression painted one her face was nothing I could describe. There were no words in the dictionary to describe it. Like a ghost, it was like I was seeing her, but not seeing _her_. I don't think I wanted to see what she was covering behind that mask "Sasuke," Her voice was trembling, and I knew she didn't want to continue what she was saying. "If only I could be."

Happy? What? Sakura was—she was something else. This was a new I side of her that I never thought I'd see. "Sakura, what do you mean?" She was looking at the ground, a cascade of hair covering her face. Her body was trembling, was she crying? But she came back up with a dry face, biting her lower lip and shook her head. What was going on? Walking back to the foot of the bed, I knew there was nothing I could do. I hardly knew her, and what just happened proved my point. Following suit, we just sat there with nothing to say. There was nothing I _could_ say. Sitting there was hard, and I didn't know what to make out of what Sakura was unconsciously telling me. It was like some kind of clue.

"_If only I could be."_

"You're right you know," Sakura began to talk, and break the silence. It startled me because Sakura wasn't really one to talk, and after her little scene I definitely didn't expect it. "Edgar Allan Poe was on drugs and had trouble with alcoholism."

There was no possible way for me to force the truth out. I didn't want to drop the topic, but we _did_ have to do this, so all I could do was try and forget what happened. If that was possible.

"Let me see it." I didn't answer her, but rose my eyebrow up. It was an efficient answer if you ask me. Extending her arm out she said, "Let me see your notebook." With no question, I simply handed to her, and watched as she was examining it. Sakura turned the page, probably expecting for more, but that was it. "You don't really know much do you?"

I nearly had a coughing fit, that was something I didn't expect. Though, it could have been easily predictable. "Excuse me? What do you mean I don't know much—"

"No, about Edgar Allan Poe, I mean. Tell me all you know about his life and his works." Sakura's expression revealed that she found it funny about my misconception of her query. I paid none of my attention to her as I wondered what knowledge I had of Poe. Well, there was the fact of him being an alcoholic and a druggie, but that's what Sakura just told me. Oh, and he was born in the nineteenth century.

"Besides what you just told me of his addictions, he was born in the nineteenth century, and died at the age forty. He's also referred to the father of modern mystery and horror." That was all that I could think of, wasn't much but at least something.

"That's all you know?"

"What do you think?" I said, but I didn't act like an 'arrogant bastard' when I told her. It was pretty obvious though. After all this was Kakashi's class, did we ever learn? "You do remember that our teacher is Kakashi right? All we've ever learned from him was that he was a perverted teacher who wishes he had a girlfriend. His class has always been a no-brainer, except for the couple times he did give us some important information. There are hardly ever any tests, so I doubt that any of our class anything about Edgar Allan Poe."

Sakura's mouth surprisingly began to curve upwards forming a small smile. "Yeah, Kakashi would rather teach the guys on his Icha Icha series the whole year than teach Language Arts." That was actually _funny_. Hopefully, this side of Sakura would stay longer, and she wouldn't go back to her normal attitude. It's really amazing how your view of someone could be totally altered within a small amount of time. Wasn't it just a over an hour ago that we were screaming our lungs out at each other? For a brief time we were talking about Kakashi's, er, intriguing behaviors, he was a very interesting topic to talk about. However, it wasn't the usual "talks" we have like in school, but having a real conversation without any arguments. Unfortunately, as fast as her humor came, her regular stoic emotion was back. "Sasuke," Sakura—the one he was accustomed to—was back to normal (if that's what you call normal). "We can't really do our literary review if you know close to nothing. In the duration of forty years, there are so many events that are vital for this assignment. So, I guess I'll have to teach you about Poe's life first." She didn't wait for me to reply—not that I would say anything for the matter, in this partnership, I'm not exactly what you'd call "in control"—and began her mini-lesson.

"Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809, but before he could turn three both his parents died, forcing him and his two other siblings to be separated to different parental custody. He was taken in by John Allan, who was a merchant living in Richmond, Virginia. Poe's education lasted for five years in London, and when he was accepted into the University of Virginia, he only lasted for a year. During his time in the university, Poe had gambling debts for over two thousand dollars, seeking help from John Allan. However, he refused to help repay the money Poe owed, causing him to drop out. The two men never had a great father son relationship, so when Allan did pass on, Poe's name was omitted from his will leaving him nothing from Allan's estate.

"After a failed engagement to his first love, he married his thirteen year old cousin when he was twenty seven." Sakura paused after saying this—to add a dramatic effect? I'm not so sure. But it surprised me that he would marry his own cousin more than ten years younger, it was kind of gross to think about it. It's like if Neji and Hinata—yeah, not going to happen. "Only six years after their wedding, his wife's blood vessel bursted, making her totally dependent on Edgar Allan Poe's care. Unfortunately, she dies five years later due to tuberculosis, even after he was taking great care for his wife.

"Even before he got married, Poe had problems of drinking alcohol, gambling, and drugs—most likely opium. But when his beloved died, it was a terrible blow, and his addictions became more overwhelming. He tried two more attempts to get married, but none of them worked out because of his over consumptions. Then in 1849, after getting on the wrong train, he is found in Baltimore in an alley, unconscious and taken to the nearest hospital. Four days later, he dies due to 'congestion of the brain.'" She stopped, that was it? His life must have been so difficult, it seemed like everyone he cared about was always dying around him. As is Sakura could his mind, she looked up at him, "What I just told you isn't everything, but I'm sure it's enough. He only lived to age forty, but he left a deep imprint in history. Almost all those he loved were slowly disappearing around him, but he still continued doing what he loved to do. Write."

"One question," I began to say. "How do you know all this?" What she was telling me was simple, but how she got all this information was a mystery to me. But the way she was staring back at me made me feel like I was missing something. Something important, but I did not know what. Sakura was still looking at me with, saying nothing, but her eyes depicted a whole story to me. Mockery. She was expecting me to know the answer to my question, but how was I supposed to know? Seeing that there wasn't going to be anything coming out of me, she stood up and began digging around in her backpack. When she found what she was looking for, she threw it at me. Well, not exactly. It bounced on the bed two times like a rock skipping on top of water, and landed in front of me. A book? Carefully sitting back down, I could see Sakura observing me from the corner of my eye. Not knowing what to do, I just looked over the book, it was pretty thick. The cover read, Burned By Ellen Hopkins, and inside was more poems or something like that. What did this have to do with Edgar Allan Poe? Absolutely nothing. I looked up, questioning what this book had anything do with what we were supposed to be doing.

Gently taking the book from my hands, Sakura answered me—finally. "I read. Ever try it?" There she goes again with her twisted humor. Glaring, I was about to retort another insult back at her, but she beat me to it. "So Sasuke, since I told you almost everything I know, what do you think? How do you think he died?"

How do I think he died? She just told me, because of congestion of the brain. Whatever, I always knew there was something _different_ about her. The first one will be easy enough, "His life wasn't a happy one. It seemed like whenever he had a moment of anything close to happiness, it was ripped away from him. When people you love continually die around you, it must do something to them psychologically." I stopped, that was all I had to say. Until she tried pressing further, I felt I _had_ to answer. "I don't know. He was an alcoholic and a drug abuser. It must've finally caught up with him, and that's how he died. Why are you asking me that? You just told me if you don't remember. I'm not that much of an ignoramus as you think."

"That's _may_ be true, but I'm asking if you believe it. Do you really think he died because of his problems? I don't . . . not entirely." Sakura leaned on one of the bedposts, and closed her eyes. In deep thought, she opened her eyes slowly and I waited for her to explain what she meant. "It was the doctor that said he died because of that, but I think it's more complex than a simple answer like 'congestion of the brain.' What I think is that he died because of life itself. Before he was even three, both his parents had left the earth, leaving him alone with his foster parents. His life was full of death, it didn't visit him occasionally; it was a _part_ of him. The Reaper took his mother, his father, his foster mother, his foster father, and his wife. For him, family was only like a figment of his imagination because none of those people did stay long for him to know what it truly is to have someone care for you. It wasn't only death, but disappointments were part of a daily basis. He struggled to stay in school, but ended up leaving and getting expelled in the future. Turning to his foster parents would be futile because they never did pull him through all his gambling debts. Constantly he was rejected, be it with an occupation or social happenings. As he was beginning to tilt and fall from grace, no one tried to save him. There was no one. No one to talk to. No one to turn to. No one for him to express his grief he's always been holding inside his heart. And when that happens, it seems like the only thing that will listen is alcohol or drugs. To Edgar Allan Poe, those were his friends. They would never hurt him. They would never leave. They were his artificial family. Indulging. Satisfying. It took him from his suffering just for a moment, and that was all he needed. It wasn't his addictions that killed him—at least in my book. He was already waiting to die. Waiting to join those who already left him."

That was deep; I could hardly believe that it all came from the girl facing me. She's _definitely_ not like most girls. The way she thought about Poe's death was incredibly fascinating; she looked at it in a whole new perspective. But of course, I didn't show my utter surprise but I was almost speechless. It felt like anything I would say would sound completely inferior compared to her speech. "Well, I think we're done with that." Sakura gave me back my notebook and moved over closer to me—but not to close. "No offense, but the notes you took weren't that good."—how am I not supposed to take that to offense?—"Unfortunately, we have to work together on this. So where was the last place you left off?" I pointed to the paragraph that was the most troubling so far, and Sakura read it over. "What this paragraph is describing is what the House of Usher looks like from the outside. The man who is visiting thinks that the exterior looks and smells like death. In the next paragraph, he is observing it more closely, and is disgusted, comparing it to a corpse full of . . . maggots. The house even looks like a face—with its eye shaped windows and a small fissure zig-zagging down the gray walls."

Well, that was an easy clarification.

"If you didn't notice already, Sasuke, Poe is indirectly reflecting on his life. Roderick Usher has a malady that makes his senses so much stronger than normal, but he is described as a hypochondriac. Coincidentally, the drug opium is known for causing this problem, which Poe abused." Sakura took more notes, and we continued reading.

Although, I was completely against it, Sakura was slowly guiding me through the story, but it was the only way for me to have the best understanding. Crazy how one will do anything to get a good grade. The sentence structure was still awkward to read, but at least I didn't feel brain dead like the last time.

Almost another hour had passed, and we had three pages to go. By this time I was tired of all this, but if finishing meant that we weren't going to read this anymore, then I was up for it. Outside, I could see that it was getting dark; the moon was nearly in the center of the midnight sky. Didn't Sakura's parents want her home already? But Sakura didn't seem to care if she was late for _any_thing. The whole time, I kept my mouth shut, leaving Sakura with the talking. This has to be the most she's ever said to me, and she hadn't called me an idiot for over an hour. Too bad she's only like this because of some stupid class project. It would be a lot nicer if _she_ was a lot nicer. Then again, if she was like every other girl in this school, I'd shoot myself before we would get past the first paragraph.

Twenty more minutes went by, and we completed reading "The Fall Of The House Of Usher. It took us a little over four hours, but it was done. My nightmare was done. But the ending was . . . interesting. More to myself than Sakura, I wondered out loud, "Why would Usher leave his sister in the chamber if he knew she was alive? What a bastard."

Sakura piped in, which startled me because I wasn't expected for her to answer, but if I said something she would figure out I was partly talking to myself. "I'm not exactly sure, but I think that it shows how people wouldn't help Edgar A. Poe even though the signs of his suffering were visible. Usher in this story buries his sister in the chamber inside his house even though she was alive, and when he hears her trying to escape, he refuses to get her out. He just left her there to die, and never said anything until—" Something in the air changed. Sakura stopped mid-sentence, and I couldn't understand why, I just sat there and watched. She was acting the same way as before: head down, bangs covering her face, slightly trembling. I knew how she was going to end the sentence, but what I could understand was why she just stopped. I was only sure of one thing: this time it wasn't my fault.

Abruptly Sakura sprang up and began packing her things like she was in a marathon. She zipped her back pack, striding toward the door, mumbling, "I've got to go."

I didn't entirely blame her for wanting to leave, it was almost eight o'clock. I could've just let her leave by herself, I wouldn't care. What I did care about was finding her tomorrow still here because she got lost _again_. "Wait," I said, but she kept going , and out the door she went . . . to the right. "Wrong way," Smirking, I had my arms crossed on my chest and waited. Sakura hurried to the left and watched her go away. But I didn't go back to sitting, and stood there because I knew what was going to happen next.

Just as I predicted, Sakura walked backwards and stopped in front of my door, "Sasuke, next time, can you make me a map. Or even better, get a smaller hou—mansion." Lazily, I walked to her, and led the way to the front door. We said nothing, and I kept my head looking to the front of me, not giving Sakura a second glance. Though, I couldn't see her, I could sense her glare trying to burst me into flames.

Maybe having Sakura wouldn't be so _good_ either . . .

* * *

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Okay, before I say anything, picture this:

I am about to upload this chapter, yes? When suddenly, the computer crashes! So I had to wait about two weeks for the computer to get fixed because my family and I went away, and people were over. So you can blame technology for the late update. But it was only a little over a month!

Finally, Sasuke gets his own chapter, hurrah! It was kinda weird to write but oh well.

Thanks for the reviews, I feel a lot better, so hurray!

Read and Review!

Song on the brain right now: 4: AM Forever By Lostprophets (OH YEAH! Gonna dance around the room now so bye!)

GhostofYou


	7. Bumps Of Kindness

**Disclaimer:** Blah Blah Bla Naruto. That's Blahberish for I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 6 – Bumps of Kindness

"Sasuke-teme! Sasuke-teme! Hello? Sa-Su-Ke-Teme!"

Abruptly halting his walk, Naruto continued screaming out Sasuke's name in fury as he continued going without him. But as usual, Sasuke didn't seem to hear him no matter how loud the volume was. Both of them were heading to Konoha High School, and it wasn't too far from where they were now. In fact they were pretty early, school wouldn't start for another about twenty minutes. However, Naruto's mind wasn't circling around school — was it ever? — and found himself flailing his arms around like a madman, or perhaps a fish out of water. Yeah, that's it. He was waving his hands like he was fish out of water. Not long after, the color on Naruto's face was turning into a shade of red, seething with anger. And maybe if you could look close enough, you'd see the steam exploding from his ears. All he asked for was Sasuke's tiny span of attention because to Naruto, what he had to say was pretty important. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the other fellow pedestrians veering off the sidewalk he was walking on, going to the other side of the street, and the mothers of children shielding them from the odd spectacle. "SASUKE-TEME! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?"

To Naruto, it looked like Sasuke was slowing his walk, and immediately he calmed down. He thought that he would actually stop and listen to him for once instead of tuning him out like he did everyday. But all that erupted from Sasuke was a simple "nope", and carried on his trek in the direction of school as if nothing happened. Standing there with his eyes bulging, Naruto's muscles became tense. Between grinded teeth he pronounced every syllable with heated anger and spat, "Sa-Su-Ke-Te-Me!" And as he saw him going further from him, he couldn't help but ask himself, 'How come whenever I call him Sasuke-teme, he never stops and listens to me?' However, before he could answer his own question, he decided that he should at least catch up to him, and sped up to where Sasuke was. Figuring that he probably wouldn't stop for him to catch up, his walk turned to a jog, to a run, and finally to a sprint. Naruto went faster and faster until . . .

He saw that Sasuke _did_ stop.

Naruto whipped his head backward, feet still in motion, and saw that Sasuke stood motionlessly behind, watching him continue going at the same speed. He was void of emotion, but looked at Naruto as if he was some freak show. And Naruto Uzamaki was _no_ freak show. Still clutching his backpack over his shoulder, all that came from Sasuke was a low grunt of "dobe", and probably meant for Naruto to hear. His plan worked because Naruto did. Clenching fists, he glared at him, but Sasuke responded coolly by giving the look he always gave him whenever something like this happened. The You – Are – A – Pathetic – Ramen – Obsessed – Idiot look. His frustration was spreading throughout him and into his bloodstream. Mind all caught up in anger, Naruto made no attempt to stop his continuous sprint until . . .

_TWANG!_

Head meet pole, pole meet head. Hope you get fully acquainted. While he was busy looking, erm, glaring, at Sasuke, Naruto had no sense of what was ahead of him, thus making him collide into the lamp post. Hard. _Very hard._ For a couple seconds, he stayed intact with the metal pole, eyes spinning inside his head. Naruto swore he could hear the birds chirping, circling around his head. Then slowly, his body was sliding down the lamp post like a heavy object glued to another but couldn't hold. The cement was more welcoming than Naruto remembered, and soon he thumped onto the sidewalk, feet dangling up in the air. A splitting headache quaked in Naruto's head, pounding like a jackhammer, his back pained him to move, so the only thing he could do was take his hands and rub his temples. The pain was easing up a bit, and he closed his eyes as he lied there alone. The bright sun made the inside of his eyelids a dull orange, but suddenly a shadow was over him, and he created a visor with his hands and opened his eyes. Above him was Sasuke looking down at him, and was just about to walk away but not without saying one thing to him. "Idiot."

No other words said, he was walking away yet again, leaving Naruto without offering to help. Suddenly, a burst of energy overpowered Naruto and he sprang from the cement, running to his supposed "best friend." This time however, he made sure he stopped when need to, and in a blink of an eye, he was beside Sasuke. "Teme!" Making no sign that Sasuke knew he was there, Naruto continued to speak, but it was the same as talking to a brick wall. He spoke of various topics, with no responses aside from the "hn's", but being the perky one, Naruto rambled on like a speeding engine in a race. They were about fifty feet from the front gates, with ten minutes left to spare. It surprised Naruto that they actually had enough time left until the bell would ring, and he had one last thing to say. And he would say it even though he knew Sasuke wouldn't care at all, but it's better than running into another metal pole. "But this first project we have from Kakashi-sensei is so difficult! It's like this author guy is speaking another language! I can't even understand what the guy is trying to say. Why would a guy write like that now? If he's living in the twenty-first century, you'd think that maybe that he'd write the same way. But no. He had to go on and on about things I can't even understand!"

Something about the last thing he said must have sparked Sasuke's attention because before Naruto could blabber about something else, Sasuke answered. "Actually, you don't understand a lot of things, so I'm not surprised." Opening his mouth to disagree, Naruto was cut off as he continued to say something, and Naruto didn't interrupt because it was about time Sasuke take note of his presence. "And Edgar Allan Poe, he died over one hundred years ago."

Eyes widening, mouth falling to the floor, Naruto nervously chuckled to himself. "Well that would make sense . . . But I resent what you said about me! I do understand some things!"

"Okay name one." Naruto pointed his forefinger to the blue sky, and inhaled. "And something besides ramen." Immediately, his finger went down, and he slumped forward, head down. But suddenly, it went up again, only higher, inhaling deeper. "And something we learned in school."

Again, Naruto slumped forward, but this time he didn't come back up with an idea. It was silent for a few more steps, but he bounced back up from his slump, and this time his forefinger was pointed to Sasuke. "Well, how was I supposed to know that the guy died over a hundred years ago? I mean all people can't be prodigies you know! So don't answer me like I'm some idiot because you probably already knew more than I did!"

"Dobe," Sasuke said. "the date of the story was written on the top of the page under the title, and it did say the 1800's"

With nothing to say, Naruto was dumbfounded, and mentally punched himself. But after a while he went back to complaining about the project. His arms went back to flailing like a fish out of water, and Sasuke looked straight forward, not bothering to look at him. "Yeah, Hinata and I are working together, and you'd think we'd — she'd be able to understand it, but the whole time her face was red like she had a fever. And I'm not sure whether or not she understands or not because whenever she'd talk to me, she'd stumble or mumble on her words. But I'm pretty sure that she did understand more than I did, I can tell you that. And partners are supposed to be helping each other out, right? Am I right? Am I right? Well I am. Come on, though we're not doing so well. But Sakura, she's lucky, even though you can't stand her. She's lucky to have you as a partner, you being Mr. Prodigy. But hey, anyone who'd have you as a partner would be lucky I guess even if you hated them. You must've gotten your story very well, and wouldn't need a partner anyway. Probably understood it right away and helped Sakura, huh?"

They were so close to the gate, most likely ten feet away, but Sasuke stopped. His jaw was clamped so tight Naruto thought he cracked his teeth. 'But that's not possible right?' The knuckles on his hands were turning white as Sasuke clenched them tightly. He wasn't saying anything, and Naruto could feel the deadly aura erupting from him. But being the kind of person he was he kept questioning, "You were able to understand your assigned story, right?" A low growl was aimed at Naruto, but his mind still couldn't comprehend what was occurring. "Right? I mean you must've gotten it! Did you tell me that you two were already starting to type your finished essay? Come on, it's not like—" Stopping in mid-sentence, a smile formed on Naruto's mouth, and he couldn't hold his laugh. "So you didn't understand it did you? The great Sasuke Uchiha didn't know what was happening! It was Sakura who helped you, wasn't it. That's just great."

Sasuke didn't move, "Whatever, dobe." Unclenching his fists, he seemed to calm down and went on walking. "Naruto, she's not stupid, unlike a person I know."

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto followed, "All I'm saying is that this just proves that your not a complete robot who knows everything. But hey, on the bright side, Sakura's your partner for the rest of the year, so when you need help with the project, she's there to tutor you!" The happy go lucky grin was planted on Naruto's face as he continued strolling along. Five minutes to spare. But before Naruto went through the gate, he almost forgot. He didn't ask Sasuke about it because he thought he would've remembered and said something by now. But news flash. He didn't. And Naruto being Naruto, he would have to remind him. "Sasuke don't you have something to say to me?"

Still walking, Naruto heard a faint, "nope." 'Geez, can't he expand his vocabulary?' Worried, Naruto asked again, "Are you sure? Because I think you did. Are you sure you don't have anything to say to me that you forgot to when you should have because I would've appreciated it if you told me because we're friends and friends do that to other friends?"

Stopping, Sasuke looked back at Naruto, but still with same emotionless stare. "Actually Naruto I do remember something." Waiting for it to come, Naruto had his Cheshire cat grin on. He knew Sasuke would remember, no matter how cold he was. "You" — 'here it comes . . . — "forgot your backpack when you bumped into the lamppost, it's still there.

"TEME!" And off Naruto went, back to the lamp post, knowing Sasuke wouldn't follow him and just go inside school. 'Best friend, psh yeah right! He better treat me to some ramen after this!' He was running faster than he did when he hit the pole, but made sure he dodged anything in his way. 'Yeah that's right, I won't ever bump into a pole again!' Sitting there on the floor, Naruto saw his backpack, and wanted to check if everything was accounted for, but in the distance he could here the first bell chiming in. So he picked it up, and started to sprint and check what was inside his bag. When all was there and he knew that it was his backpack, he looked up . . .

And this time slammed into a street sign head first.

000

Sasuke POV

It was already half of first period by the time Naruto came through the door, but lucky for him the class wasn't doing anything courtesy of Kakashi. As usual, Sasuke was sitting doing practically nothing because he was surrounded by a wall of people he didn't really want to talk to. Yup, you guessed it Sakura included. And one might ask, what does Sasuke do in Kakashi's class where'd he's forced to sit next to his second to worst nightmare. Well the answer is simple, what he does is typical for him, you can even say it's no different than what he does when he's next to Naruto or any other person. He sits and looks around the room, only to speak when someone wants to talk to him, and if the class by any chance is learning something, he'll listen. So it's no surprise that he was the only one not talking to anyone around him. Well, except for her, but to him she didn't exactly count.

So when Naruto did come, it aroused everyone's attention to the front of the room. As many students wondered why he was late, Sasuke wasn't surprised, but he wondered why Naruto had a huge bump smack in the middle of his forehead. When Naruto first collided into the lamp post, Sasuke could hardly tell anything was there, but now, it looked like a rill bulbous hill was growing on Naruto's face. Sasuke couldn't believe that he could have possibly ran into another lamp post, 'But it is Naruto . . .' The whole class did not stir as their attention was all focused on the blond haired boy in front of the room panting and resting on his knees. However, Kakashi didn't seem to notice that he came in for a particular reason, and seeing that Naruto had a white slip in his grasp, he knew that Kakashi was in for a surprise.

Walking over to Kakashi's desk, Naruto went over and started saying his name over and over again, but each time he did so, Kakashi would tell him to "wait a minute, this is the pest part!", but Naruto persisted. Realizing that saying his name wouldn't distract him, Naruto waved his white piece of paper in front of Kakashi's eyes, as if he were a dog and Naruto was carrying the world's best chew toy. Kakashi must've been one of the disobedient dogs, because he would swipe Naruto's hand away from his vision, continuing to tell him to leave him alone. As last resort, the whole class saw Naruto cunningly grab the orange book away from the masked teacher's hands, hiding it behind his back. On instinct, Kakashi jumped from his chair, "Naruto! Give me —" But he no longer continued what he was about to say, because instead of the Icha Ihca Paradis novel, Kakshi's eyes were fixcated on the massive sanguine mountain on Naruto's forehead.

"Oi! Kakashi-sensei, it is rude to stare at one's face!" Naruto's nose was in the air, but the whole room was still gazing at it. Was it them or did it seem like it was _growing_? Handing the orange book, and his late slip, Kakashi was taken away from his hypnotic stare. He read it over, and Naruto was already headed for his desk, but before he could sit down, Kakashi interrupted.

"Naruto, what happened to your forehead?"

Standing proudly, as if he was flaunting his mountain to the room, Naruto began speaking, "Well you can ask a certain _teme_ here what happened, but he'd probably tell you a lie saying he was the hero. Which isn't true! So because I'm better than him, I'll tell you"

"_Sasuke-teme! Sasuke-teme! Hello? Sa-Su-Ke-Teme!"_

_Abruptly halting his walk, Naruto continued screaming out Sasuke's name in fury as he continued going without him. But as usual, Sasuke didn't seem to hear him no matter how loud the volume was. Both of them were heading to Konoha High School, and it wasn't too far from where they were now. In fact they were pretty early, school wouldn't start for another about twenty minutes. However, Naruto's mind wasn't circling around school — was it ever? — and found himself flailing—_

"Naruto!" Kakashi stopped Naruto from going further, and he looked questioningly at his teacher, his facial expression silently asking why he stopped him. Putting his arm behind his head, Kakashi chuckled, "Naruto, I asked why you have that mou — bump on your head. I don't think we need a whole novel."

"Fine, fine." Naruto huffed, and paused. Sasuke presumed that he was trying to make his story shorter, and was expecting Naruto to brag about his bump. No matter what, when Naruto tells a story, he always wants to make Sasuke look like the evil one. And throughout the years, Sasuke knew why, he was jealous of course. Then Naruto began talking, and Sasuke was amused to hear that he was actually telling the story right than making up his own fantasy. "Well, Sasuke and I were walking to school this morning, and I had to tell him something, but he wouldn't listen and kept going without me for reasons I don't know! I saw that I was lagging behind and tried to catch up to him, so I ran so fast, and you guess what Sasuke does? He finally stops, but I keep going and the next thing I know, I'm on the sidewalk, birds spinning around my head. And I knew Sasuke was evilly plotting against me, it was his plan to make me hit the lamp post with my head!" Everyone sweat dropped — minus Sasuke and Sakura — and Sasuke quickly took back what he said about Naruto not exaggerating fact from fiction. It's not like he wanted to make Naruto run into a post like an idiot, he just _happened_ to cease his stride.

"So then after, we begin walking again, and this time I made sure I didn't run into any poles of any sort. As usual, Sasuke was being the anti-social person he is and wouldn't talk to me, so I talked to him. However, let me tell you, talking to him is like talking to a brick wall. But somehow the project that Kakashi-sensei assigned must've sparked his attention because once I started complaining about the super hard story that made no sense whatsoever he was actually answering me! But you must agree the project he gave us was so hard to understand! It's not like he teaches us who this Edgar Allan Poe person! Just today I found out he died over one hundred years ago, and who told me that? Definitely not Kakashi-sensei." Kakashi faked coughed and Naruto stopped looking at the look he was giving him, Naruto didn't talk about Kakashi anymore, but continued his story.

"And I assumed that Sasuke definitely understood the assignment because he's super smart. Don't you think?" Sasuke watched as his peers nodded in agreement, and knew what Naruto was going to say next. But he wouldn't allow it. He couldn't let Naruto embarrass him in front of the whole class, not like he's let it show. But all the same, he didn't want Naruto telling the whole class that he needed help from her. Sakura Haruno, the pink-haired girl who everyone thought wasn't interested in school anymore. He knew that if that happened his name would be tainted in a flash because gossip in this school travels fast. Looking over at Sakura, Sasuke saw that she had one eyebrow raised, and immediately knew that she knew what Naruto was going to say about the assignment. She must've felt his stare on her again because she looked at Sasuke in the eyes, and tilted her head to the right, eyebrows raised with a smirk. In return, Sasuke glared and kept his eyes on Naruto. He was sure Sakura knew what Naruto was going to say.

"Well think again!" At that moment, Sasuke could feel some eyes on him, scrutinizing. "I found out that he needed help from Sakura because he didn't know what his story was about either! He must've gotten mad at me for saying that because he stopped talking, but I didn't really mind because he is always mad at me. So in turn I asked him if he forgot to say something to me that he should've and when I thought he was going to say it, he tells me he 'forgot' to tell me that I left my back pack at the lamp post where I previously banged into. Not even offering to help me retrieve it, I ran off back to the lamp post and saw my backpack there, and knew I was going to be late and started sprinting while making sure all my things were there. While doing that, I managed to dodge many lamp posts, but when I completed checking my bag, I lifted my head and next thing I knew I was on the sidewalk again except this time it was a street sign, not a lamp post. And that's how I have this even bigger bump on my forehead. Because of Sasuke's plot to overthrow me."

Concluding his tale, Naruto sat down in his chair gazing around the room to see everyone's reaction, but by this time all eyes were on Sasuke. And Sakura. Keeping his stoic expression, Sasuke looked back at his classmates as if nothing happened. He didn't want to look in Sakura's direction because he knew that would convince them that he really did need her help, and was seeking for more. But he didn't need her help, now he fully regretted getting some help from her because he could've read _The Fall of the House of Usher_ and knew what it was about. Eventually. So instead of turning his head fully at he rested his chin on his laced fingers, elbows propping him up, and squinted his eyes, so it looked like he was deep thought. And from the corner of his eye he could see that Sakura was ignoring whatever was going on, and began reading her new book of the week, but this time Sasuke didn't bother asking which one it was. When he was sure that she wasn't going to do anything to help their situation, he opened his eyes again, but this time the faces seemed closer, and more in his face. Finding something to occupy himself, he did what Sakura was doing. Ignore. So he took his notebook, and pretended to write something. And then out of nowhere the questions started barricading him.

"Sasuke is it true? You needed help? From her? What does this mean? I thought you were smart! This is a joke isn't it Sasuke-kun? I can't believe you had to ask her. What a loser. You're losing your touch. Is she starting to melt your ice? Yeah! Is that why you asked for help for the first time in your life? Why couldn't be me? This is tragic! How do you think this will tarnish your rep? Sasuke! Sasuke-kun! Why? Does this mean you like her? How could you like someone like her? Who? What? When? Where?"

All the questions attacked him at once, and all the questions seemed to be coming from one single voice. A deep lasting voice echoing through his ears. There were so many other questions being thrown at him, but he could only make out a few, and hearing them made him a bit relieved he didn't hear what everyone else was asking. Even though they were expecting answers from him, there was absolutely no gap for him to answer them. Not like he intended to answer their stupid questions. His face didn't change but inside, his head was hammering him that he could almost feel the pain that Naruto felt after slamming into two poles. Fighting off the urge to rub his head, he looked straight ahead as if none of this was happening. At least not to him. For a second he could feel her stare on him, but he didn't bother check because he knew she must be finding the spectacle hilarious. She wants to see hilarious? He'll give her hilarious. A little punch — but he knew that this would show weakness, and he wouldn't show weakness. But in a God giving moment, all the noise stopped, all the questions. Everything. And the eyes were staring deeper into him, _demanding_ him to give an answer. He'd give them an answer, "I never said she helped me, Naruto. Get your facts straight."

Like they were on cue, all heads turned to Naruto, and Sasuke saw that he had his mouth open, obviously appalled. Naruto stood up, knocking his chair down to the floor creating a low boom. "What are you talking about teme! You did say that she helped me. Don't you dare call me a liar because I knew what I heard you say! Get _your_ facts straight!"

Still seated and calm, all heads turned to Sasuke, "I don't know what you heard this morning_ dobe_, but I never said that. Now stop making up stupid stories that aren't true. You were twisting everything around, so I'm not surprised you made it look like I seedk Sakura for help. I never said anything like that. Your story was exaggerated and anyone with the right mind would know that."

"Teme! Stop lying to me! You did say that! I know you did! You just want everyone to keep thinking you're cool and make me look like the kid who still has to mature, but I know —"

"That's enough!" Finally Kakashi intervened between there heated argument and put down his book. (Gasp!) Sasuke wasn't sure whether he was relieved or angry. It took him this long to finally stop when it sounded like a zoo. He had one word for Kakashi. Oblivious. Standing from his desk he went in front of Sakura's desk, and only Sasuke could imagine what he was going to do. "Since you guys are so into this discussion instead of asking Sasuke or Naruto, let's get the truth shall we?" Heads nodded in agreement and Kakashi looked down at Sakura, grabbing her attention. "Sakura did you or did you not help Sasuke?" Sasuke couldn't believe it, now for sure Sakura would side with Naruto to humiliate him. He knew that it was going to happen. It was going through her head, but he didn't show any anxiousness, but inside he knew whatever she was going to say about him, he would resent her even more. More than hate. Loathe.

Sakura looked at no one, and answered the question in one brief sentence, "Kakashi-sensei, I don't know where Naruto got his information, but I didn't help Sasuke with anything." And as fast as her answer was, she quickly went back to reading her book, leaving everyone satisfied. Except for a certain blonde and a dark haired Uchiha.

It was like amnesia came over the whole classroom, everyone went back to what they were previously doing, but Naruto kept mumbling in disbelief staring at Sasuke and Sakura. Under normal circumstance, Sasuke would've smirked wholeheartedly at him, but it wasn't normal. He didn't know why Sakura said what she said. He thought she'd tell the truth. He thought she would be laughing at him. He thought she'd want to annihilate him. What she did was an enigma to him, and Sasuke wanted to know why. Why she lied. Why she chose to cover for him. Knowing that no one would care if he talked to her now, he turned and asked, "Sa —"

_Brrrrrrrrrrrrrng!_

"Class dismissed."

000

After third period math, Sasuke knew what he had to do. Personally, he didn't want to be the one who was stuck with this job, but they insisted he do it. Why? Because he was his best friend. Right. Stealthy, before the class ended, he swiped Naruto's Language Arts notebook, and hid it under his desk. And who was the one to come up with this stupid plan? Oh yeah, him. He was always stuck with the dumbest things to do. It was always him, but at least gave him something to do.

Both of them left the classroom, and Sasuke knew Naruto wouldn't notice until the last minute. The cafeteria was pretty far away from their math class, so Sasuke knew that would be enough time for them to set it all up. Hopefully. But since the mishap at first period, Naruto hadn't really talked to him. Honestly, Sasuke's mind was still on what Sakura said, but whenever he thought he could ask her, she'd tell him to go away. No surprise there. However, Naruto's silence was abnormal for him, and Sasuke was always ready for him to start yelling, but he never said more. 'Oh well," Sasuke thought. 'At least it's quiet for once.' "Teme?" — 'Even when he's depressed he still calls me teme!' — "Sorry about what happened in first period, I guess I got carried away." Sasuke turned to Naruto and saw that the turgid mountain had shrunk into a turgid hill again. But Naruto was slowly becoming more into his personality, and his fast paced talking was beginning to come. "But what do you expect? You didn't tell me that I left my backpack until we were so close to the school, so it was your fault you made me late! And it's your fault I have this now shrinking mountain on my face! You could at least say sorry for what happened! And this day guess just keep getting worse and worse. First my head. Then my backpack. Then my head, again. Then I was late. Then the argument. And no one even remembered that today — Great just great! I left my Language Arts notebook it Gai-sensei's' room! I know you probably wouldn't follow me, so you can go ahead without me."

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders, rolling his eyes, and went to the cafeteria. "I didn't mean it literally!" Keep going. "Fine! But if I come back with a bigger mountain on my face it's your fault!" Yeah, Naruto was back.

--

Sasuke and the rest of them patiently waited at the lunch for Naruto to come back. Around him were Shikamaru, Neji, Gaara, Kiba, Shino, Lee, Tenten, and Hinata, but it wasn't the guys who planned this. It was all the girls. Speaking of girls, Sasuke saw that the most enthusiastic planner was missing, but he didn't stray on the thought for too long because Naruto was coming through the double doors other books in hand. Sasuke didn't care if Ino wasn't here yet, it was her fault for being late. He was almost to their usual table, and when he got there he looked up and they could see the question in his eyes. "Okay, what are you all —"

"Happy Birthday!"

But the only ones who yelled out was Tenten, Lee, and Kiba. Of course, none of the other guys said anything — except for a little mumble, "Yeah, what they said."— and Hinata was still stuttering on the "happy". But it seemed that it was enough for Naruto because Sasuke could see the tiny droplets of water forming on the corners of his eyes. Putting his books down, Naruto sat down in the nearest chair. "I thought you all forgot because no one said anything to me the whole day! And even Sasuke — you didn't forget! It was your plan to have this little lunch celebration for me. You really do care!" Stars formed in Naruto's eyes, making Sasuke want to leave so badly.

"Actually, dobe, I was forced to do this."

Naruto blinked, but his smile came back, "All the same, thanks guys! But why are there still two empty chairs?" Sasuke looked and saw that there _were_ two empty chairs. He knew Ino had to come, but he wasn't sure if anyone else had to come. It looked like everyone that needed to be here was here. No one answered Naruto's question and started to eat their lunch. There wasn't any cake or anything too special, but it was all good for Naruto.

Then through the double doors a figure emerged and it was Ino, but Sasuke saw that her arm wasn't all the way through the door and that she was clearly trying to drag someone in. Whoever it was, it had to be the one who was going to occupy the other empty seat. Going through people in his mind, Sasuke tried to think of who Ino would want to bring. But he didn't have to be in the dark for long because he saw that Ino was dragging Sakura through the door, who was obviously not as excited as Ino was. The whole table watched as they made their way through until both were standing in front of the vacant chairs. "Happy Birthday Naruto! Sorry I was late, I'm kind of ashamed because I was the one who convinced everyone to this little party because sadly your birthday was on a Thursday this year. But the reason I was late was because someone, ahem, had to be convinced to come. The hard way."

Sakura came up, "Yeah . . . Happy Birthday Naruto."

Naruto looked a little lost but still warmly went to her for a hug, but while doing so Sakura uncomfortably wrapped her arms around, and hesitantly patted him on the back. When the two pulled apart, courtesy of Naruto, it was his turn to speak, "Oh and Sakura about what happened in first, uh, sorry!" She nodded in acceptance, and sat down in her seat. For the whole lunch everyone was in conversation, but the only one who wasn't doing much of anything was Sakura. Even Gaara was more involved than her. And _that_ was saying something. But was Sasuke saw that no one else seemed to see was that she didn't have a lunch with her nor did she eat anything the whole time. She only responded when she was being involved (which was rare) and only said one worded answers. So by the time she announced she was going to leave, hardly anyone noticed, and out the doors she went. No one missing her presence.

Sasuke knew that it was finally the right moment, and waiting for five minutes, he stated that he had to go too, and no one suspected anything. He sauntered out of the cafeteria, but he couldn't see anyone in sight. He walked around aimlessly wondering why in the world he was looking for Sakura, but each time a flashback of first period came to mind. He knew that lunch wouldn't end for another ten minutes, and no teachers seemed to be around stalking the hallways. So far he'd be fine if he kept it up, unless he couldn't find the person he was looking for. That would be bad. It wasn't until he turned right into a corner that he bumped into something shorter than him, and it was like déjà vu. Except this time no one was on the floor and it was in full light.

Sakura was in front of him, arms wrapped around textbooks in front of her chest looking very impatient. 'Now or never.' "Sakura, I need to talk to you.'

Rolling her eyes, she said sardonically, "No, _really_? Well considering that it took you a while to say that, I know this will take a while."

Shoving her comment aside, Sasuke looked in the eye, "I want to know why you lied to Kakashi today." There was questioning in her eyes, but he knew she was playing dumb. Like he said to Naruto, she wasn't stupid. All it took was some tough negotiating. Sasuke style. "I know you're not stupid, you know what I'm talking about."

In a forlorn voice, she dipped back, the back of her palm on her forehead, "Oh Sasuke, I don't know! I'm just _crazy_ for you!"

Now he knew she was joking with him, but whatever he was still going to try. "All I'm saying was that was actually nice of you, which was weird. You could've humiliated me, and that's what I was expecting. Considering the way you've been treating me, you can't blame me for wanting to know. So tell me why."

Leaning on her right side, she said, "I don't know, I pitied you. That's why I did it. Even though no one else could see it, I did. You were worried. Worried about what people would think of you. What they would say. Worried about tainting the Uchiha name, so I lied. No big deal. Now if you excuse me I have to leave." She passed Sasuke, not looking back.

"You _pity me_? That's why you did it? You _pity me_?"

She stopped, but didn't look back, "Yes I did. You got your answer, so I'm on my way. Happy?"

"No."

Whipping around she looked at Sasuke in disbelief but not going any closer to him. "No? _No_? What more do you want? I saved your rep, and you're still not satisfied?"

Sasuke moved closer, "I want you to go away."

Sakura's anger flared, this time she went closer to Sasuke. And as she said her words, she poked him hard on the chest, "If this is your way of thanking me then I accept. And if this is your way of handling the truth I accept it also. And you know what? Here's some more truth. I can't go away no matter how much you or I wish it. I. _Can't_. Go. Away." With nothing else to say, she left a dumbstruck Sasuke rubbing his chest knowing that it would soon become a bruise. And as he watched he make the last turn and she was gone, he had to wonder, "She wants to go away?"

END OF CHAPTER 6!

I'm going to a cruise tomorow so I'll make this quick, here's the chapter! Hope you like it and please please please read and review!

GhostofYou


	8. Happy HelloWeen

**Disclaimer:** If I ever own Naruto YOU'LL be the first one I'll tell. I swear.

Chapter 7 – Happy Hell-o-ween

* * *

Three weeks. 

Three weeks full of arguing, losing minds, losing ways, nearly murdering the other, and sometimes on the rare occasion _understanding_. Together they went through ups and downs, way downs, and "is it even possible to get lower than this" downs. Obviously, they suffered mostly from downs, but considering that they're both still alive it hasn't been so bad. There has been about one project for each class so far, and they were doing great—even though most of the way to get the superb grade there were always the mind blowing arguments. Despite the constant bickering however, they weren't friends per se, just acquaintances. And Sasuke didn't still think of her as the insolent being he was forced to work with anymore, to him she was now the sarcastic, obnoxious acquaintance. He still did, in a way, have to thank her for what happened in class before. It wasn't that he really cared about what people thought of him, but it was technically true as to what Sakura said. Sasuke was one of the last Uchihas left and he would not stand for anything that would tarnish his rightful name.

But he wouldn't thank her. Not ever. It was probably this one time thing she would do for him out of pity. From now on, he expected, she would not do anything to support him or assist him in any way, shape, or form. It wasn't like he remotely did anything for her, so why would she want to help him again?

However, what Sasuke noticed the most was that whenever they had to do any kind of project that anything to do with partners, it was always at his own abode. Less often did Sakura lose her way for hours upon hours—at least she finally starting to get the interior of it. His home did have big space for important things, and it didn't have the many distractions normal people would have. You could call it the perfect workplace. But never had Sakura offered to host anything at her own home, and it seemed like it was self implied that it was _always_ going to be at his. So what would you expect when he would bring that up? The usual. The usual change the subject, don't want to hear it response. She thought if she changed the subject, he'd leave it alone, but it only made his thirst for knowing bigger.

And _that_ situation was where he found himself right now. Kakashi-sensei's usual sitting around, his version of a lesson was done and there was still time for the class to whatever. Lost in the middle of an ocean of barely known peers, Sasuke felt that it was the only time for him to ask again. And since Sakura didn't know much of the people either—not like she'd talk to them anyway—he knew that she couldn't and wouldn't turn to anyone. "Sakura." Finally, it seemed she was used to him already because she almost immediately turned in his direction without any of her ignoring brush off the shoulder.

"What, do you want, now?" Sakura returned his own bored expression with glaring eyes.

"We have a Social Studies Project due soon."

"No effing duh, now what do you want, Sasuke. You know I'd like one day of school where you don't bother me."

Sasuke blinked. He shrugged what she said to him off, and continued. "Well, we're not doing it in my house tomorrow if you wanted to know." And with a flourish, he turned away from her. Seeking attention elsewhere, he waited. Naruto was playing paper football, with himself. Ino was blabbering about with the other girls. Shikamaru was sleeping. Chouji was sneaking in some potato chips. All seemed normal; all seemed as they should be, but Sasuke was waiting for the moment that would change the usual flow of his own surroundings. Something that would change very, very soon. Neji was looking out the window. And of course, K—

"What are you talking about now?"

Bingo.

Smoothly turning to look at her again, he said, "I'm saying it's not going to be at my house."

Sakura blinked. She breathed in and out for a couple of seconds and did not respond. Guessing that she was trying to control herself, Sasuke left her to think over what she was going to say. Naruto just flicked the football out the window, perturbing Neji's gaze, but did not cause any attention to K—

"And why won't it be at your hou—mansion Sasuke?" Sakura accused suspiciously. After three weeks, she still didn't catch that he lived in a mansion. To him though, it was no different than any other house besides its large size and constant empty rooms. It was just a house, not a mansion nor a home. It was just a house he happened to live in. "I'm asking again, why won't it be at your mansion?"

"Because, tomorrow is Halloween."

Scoffing at his reply, she asked again, but his reply remained the same. It was no lie though; he did not want the partnership being done at his house tomorrow if it was Halloween. "Well, if you can't give me any good reason, it's not happening at mine either."

The facts that she wouldn't believe him, wouldn't let it be in her house, and tomorrow's fateful holiday, it only made him more aggravated. "You want a good reason?" Sasuke said fiercely causing Sakura to look back at him in all seriousness. "Come over my house today, and you'll see my reason." Not saying anything, Sakura's gaze went somewhere else, but even though he had no solid answer he knew she wouldn't not go. She definitely would. She was the sort of person who would end up surprising you if you weren't ready for one. But he was done with the surprises; he was done with her games. She was going to go to his house to see what his deal was. Sakura was no longer a stranger to him; she was an acquaintance. But it was a strange revelation for Sasuke. Three weeks, and he already knew her that well.

000

It wasn't long for Sasuke's prediction to come true because there was Sakura, right out his door. Opening it leisurely, he saw that she looked impatient, giving him a stare that would shake a normal person off. But underneath that impatience, he knew there was a flickering fire of curiosity.

Score one for Sasuke.

Stepping inside, he closed the door behind her and Sakura began to shed her black zippered jacket. Not offering to take it, she held her jacket in her arms and waited for Sasuke to lead her to the answer she was looking for. However, he didn't move any step closer or further from where they were both standing, and instead he began to lean on the hallway wall. Incredulously, Sakura stared at Sasuke, tapping her foot wildly in a heart racing beat. But still he did not move. When it seemed like she couldn't stay still any longer, she went straight to him and looked directly into his eyes. "Well, aren't you going to show me your reason for wanting to have it at my house? Because if not . . . then I'm leaving; see you tomorrow here." Sasuke chose not to answer her for all would be answered in any moment, but she went to put her jacket on, so she could leave. Before she could turn on her heel and go, however, he swiftly grabbed the hood causing her to nearly tip backwards. "Wha—"

"Just wait."

Sakura pouted and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She didn't even bother to remove her jacket this time. But it didn't faze him in the least bit, and he stood there still waiting, looking at the empty walls—not counting the few frames that he never really bothered to do anything about. It was so quiet you could probably hear the faintest flutter of a fly or something like that. It was dead silent. It was like no one was in there. It was like darkness with the light. It was like two dead corpses were lying in the middle of the hallway. It was _that_ quiet. "Okay, how long do I _have_ to wait?" There; she broke it. She broke the silence. And all because the curious cat within her was yearning for closure. "Sasuke! You know not everybody has such an open schedule like you! What if I have stuff to do? Important stuff." That was hard to believe.

"No you don't."

She paused. It was an awkward break between the conversation, and Sasuke could see the uncomfortable poke growing in her into a stab—score two for Sasuke. "Well, then Sasuke," she began again, "I guess it is true. It takes one to know one." Allusion, smart girl, Sasuke thought. But he still gave nothing to contribute to the almost one-woman conversation. "Fine, if I am going to have to wait, and since you know my schedule, what's the big deal with Halloween? So far all our meetings have been here, so I don't understand why you want to change the location for some childish holiday."—he could hardly remember when Halloween was ever childish to him; he couldn't remember ever having fun at Halloween—"I mean if your mansion was suddenly struck by lightning and was burned to the ground, well then I'd understand. But Halloween? Come on, I even thought you'd come up with a better excuse then Halloween."

Okay, odd, he thought to himself. There was a reason he knew she had for not wanting to have any of their meeting at her house. She just wasn't admitting it. He definitely had an excuse, one that he was showing her, but what could possibly be hers? "Can't you understand? The 'big deal' about Halloween will come, just shut up already. Why don't you want to have it at your house? You and I wouldn't be here if you just agreed to have it there. You wouldn't be waiting here, impatient and annoyed if only you let it for once be in your house. And if my house was suddenly burnt to the ground, you'd probably still try to divert going to yours. Right?" No answer. "You are hiding something. But at least I can show you why I don't want it here." Repeatedly she opened and closed her mouth again with nothing to say; she was speechless. He hit the mark. The mark that she seemed to always be able to hit, and now he finally did.

Score three for Sasuke.

Sighing, Sakura stepped back and leaned opposite from where he was. Changing the subject—she was awfully good at that—she said exasperatedly, "I'm still not letting you one single one step inside mine until I find your reason good enough for it to change. So how long till you bring me to your reason?"

Circulation in his leg stopped at that moment, so he stepped off from the wall, and started to subtly move it around. "I'm not bringing you to my reason."

"Excuse me?" Sakura said bewildered.

"I told you, I'm not bringing you to see it."

"Oh so how do you suppose I'm going to 'see'?" Sarcastically, she put quotes around "see".

"I'm not bringing you to it because," he continued tiredly, "the reason or reasons are coming to us." Her brows rose in amusement, and her amusement quickly turned sour. Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back and did not say anything for a while. And then it was back, the silence that was all but dead. Sasuke was accustomed to it, though, he wondered if she was to. He looked back at Sakura and Okayed his question. For two people who could be so different and were in totally different poles of the Earth, they seemed to have a lot in common. Just like the North and South Pole, they were cold, but one had land and the other was barren ice. He didn't know who was which pole, but he knew that one of them had to be either. "It's about 4:10; it won't take too long now."

She said nothing back. A scowl formed on her face as she still had her eyes closed, and he could see that something was bothering her. But he didn't feel like asking her why—it was hers to deal with only. His eyes went a different way. For a moment, Sasuke thought he heard shallow breaths, and he turned to look at her, but there she was staring emotionally at him looking a little _distraught_. "What," she piped up softly, however Sasuke thought she was more of talking to herself rather than to him, "do think is out there—after it's gone?"

Sasuke didn't understand; after what's gone? Her eyes were glaring downward; she was troubled. But he said nothing. "When the fault only leads to one person . . ." he heard her mumble drift softly into the forgotten. This was something that was too odd, even for Sasuke to witness. Yet, he thought about the second sentence that was audible to him. _The fault . . . only one person . . ._ There was only one being in the universal that came to mind when Sasuke repeated the words. It was _his_ fault, there was no one else to blame; he did it to _him_, for _fun_. Was Sakura talking about someone or something? Sasuke had to ask himself. Was it an event? Was it an upcoming event? Considering how distant she was to people, Sasuke doubted he'd ever know anytime soon. Then, he noticed it. Sakura was staring fixedly at her own slender wrist, but there was neither watch nor a bracelet. Just her bare, pale appendage. It was at that moment, something else was occurring. No longer staring at it, Sakura was looking at the door, but unconsciously her right forefinger began tracing the out line of her wrist. Back and forth and back again. Over and over and over again.

"What are you—" He began to say, but was suddenly cut off. She looked up, and put her tracing away, but it was not because she was listening to what he was saying, but because the doorbell had suddenly and finally rang. Sasuke made no move to open it though, and stood there pretending like it never rang. He could sense Sakura fidget with anticipation wanting to know if the reason had finally come. "Well aren't you going to answer the door?" Sakura said at last for the ringing had not ceased just as Sasuke knew it wouldn't.

Grunting, Sasuke walked over to the door, "Fine, since you really want to meet the reasons—you asked for it." Grasping the knob, he unlocked the door and swung the door open in the same fashion as he did with Sakura earlier. And as he did, he was hit with a barrage . . .

A barrage of squeals.

It was so strong, even Sakura backed further from the door, but she could still get an eyeful for the girls had forced the door to open wider.

"Sasuke-kun!"

There were two girls, two from Math class, Sasuke saw, clad in Halloween costumes. There expression showed a hunger, but not for candy. It was a hunger that Sakura could see so clearly—they wanted Sasuke. The thought almost made Sakura want to scream in anguish as they did not stop screaming, "Trick or treat!" but she tried her best to control the emotions dying to erupt. She never knew that only two people could cause so much noise. With the all squeals, she could hardly understand what they were saying anymore; now it just sounded like Gibberish.

"Sasuke-kun! We want _candy_! Please! Sasuke-_kun_!"

Sighing in annoyance, Sasuke coolly replied, "Isn't it early for Halloween? Tomorrow you can get your _candy_." He spat at them. "But not in my house, so you can go hike your way back to the holes you guys came from."

However, they did not disappear and the one with apparently silver hair exclaimed intimately, "Oh, Sasuke-kun, you have a great sense of humor!" Sakura nearly choked when she heard her say that. The only time you'll ever associate Sasuke with humor is when you say he _doesn't_ have any humor. But she must have made some noise because he whip lashed around to look at her and back. The other girl beside Silver with smudged makeup began to go about her girly nonsense, but before she got to finish her last rapid sentence, Sasuke harshly closed the door in their faces. After a while some more rings from the doorbell echoed in the house, but ceased after about a minute. Sasuke went to Sakura and gave her an expectant look, but she did not waver. "Well, now you saw it."

Looking bored, Sakura said frankly, "And? So a few girls came early for Halloween; that's not good enough for me. Tomorrow can't possibly be as horrible as you depict it to be. We just won't answer the door for the night, no big deal."

"Sakura," he retaliated, "you've only seen the tip of the iceberg."

"What are you talking about? It was only two girls! And here you're acted worried."

Little did she know, Sasuke wasn't done with his explanation, now that they've come already, the worst has yet to happen. He wasn't worried that she'd leave to early to miss it; if she was going to leave, she would've been gone already. She still wanted to see more. "They were acting like rabid animals."

"They're just a little hyped to see . . . Mr. Uchiha outside of school. They are not any worse than a group of children!"

Sasuke said calmly back to her, "Then do little children stalk other people, people who are strangers?"

Sakura paused, and thought over, "What do you mean by stalk—" But the bell rang again, this time sounding more urgent then the previous. Sasuke "ignored" it as Sakura instructed him to do so, but the high pitched screeches only went faster and faster and faster. It went faster until Sakura couldn't take it anymore. "Sasuke answer it, it's probably someone else then early bird trick or treaters."

"No, you answer it."

"Excuse me?" Sakura answered disbelievingly. "You want," she stopped for a moment, "me to answer the door for you, in your own hou-mansion?" He said nothing, so instead she laid back, but constant ringing got to her, so she rushed to the door, and with a ferocity rarely seen in women—especially teenage girls—that when the door knob collided with the opposite wall, there was a tiny crack. "Yes?" Sakura gritted through her teeth without checking who was there first. But when she finally opened her eyes to see, she saw that the same two girls were back. Silver and Smudged were not alone this time, to Sakura's surprise. It was one thing to go trick or treating a say early. And one other thing to come again after being rebuffed from getting any _candy_. But this was taking it too far. Three others were with them: Clown, Wannabe, and Faerie. They said nothing, but kept staring at her like she was the bearded lady at some running freak show. Their stares were not welcome. "I said what do you want now? There's no candy tomorrow, and there won't be any either tomorrow. Go away."

And just as Sasuke was, Sakura was barraged with high angry squeals replacing the once flirtatious ones. The noise was starting to give her ears and aching vibration, so she took one step back massaging her ear. However, what surprised her the most was that as she took one step back they took one step _forward_. On instinct, she pushed them back, and this is where it began.

"What are you doing here, Sakura?"

"Get out of there, Sasuke-kun obviously doesn't like you, so quit hanging around like hopeful puppy. When he starts liking you is the day the world will end."

"Yeah, so get out, Sasuke-kun will choose one of us."

"Who'd choose you anyway?"

"Friendless loner."

Sasuke was quite surprised to hear their comments, especially since they were about him and her. He never really expected them to say that to her face, and he wasn't sure how Sakura was taking all the words being thrown at her. If they were talking to him—and of course if they were guys—he would have kicked their asses all the way to the Arctic Ocean and wait till the polar bears get them. But he's never seen Sakura react to anything being said to her, but compared to then, it was nothing. It was just a slap on the wrist. This was more along the lines of a punch in the stomach. Moving over, he saw Sakura stoically looked at the five's satisfied expression. Her stare was so cold, her face so emotionless, that it seemed to scare the five girls because their smirks began to dissipate. It was like they saw whole different emotion that they could never describe. Nothing said so much. "Are you done? Or do you still want to show off your idiocy to me because I could use some new entertainment than what I usually see. No? Then get off the Uchiha property because frankly you guys are annoying the hell out of me." Slam. The door was shut again.

Sakura walked calmly back to where they were standing. "Good enough now?" Sasuke said bluntly.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura answered, "Not really, all we'd really need to do is not answer their ringing. Because we're so close to the door, we can hear its blares clearly, if we were to be in your room, it wouldn't be as irritating. It would probably sound like little beeps." And with that, Sakura stood still waiting for Sasuke to say something back.

However within ten minutes, the doorbell rang so many times, Sakura began to lose count, but Sakura looked as if he was so used to this that he always stood near the entrance. And it _always_ rung at the wrong moments; Sakura was getting pissed, Sasuke could see. But she stood her ground. Never did she let her guard down, and never did she give in to his request. So he let the doorbell ring and ring, and he would answer and answer as many times until the message sunk in. He knew it would be a challenge. He knew it would require time. But he had time for challenges. And Sakura, she was definitely a challenge that Sasuke was facing.

_Ding-Dong! Ding-Dong! Dingdongdingdongdingdongdingdong!_

"Okay Sasuke!" Sakura yelled over the blaring noise. Thinking she was giving in, Sasuke was disappointed when she said her next words. "I know you want to make your point, but if we move back into the house instead of staying here then we won't hear the bell as loud. Just accept that it will be here tomorrow whether or not it is Halloween. So let's get out of here. _Now_."

Complying with her request—after she was his _guest_—he led the way to the back door. The further they got from the rings did get more muted, and from the corner of his eye, he could see a pleased smirk on Sakura's face. He stepped outside and Sakura followed into the chilly weather. His yard stretched out as nothing but green grass and one lone tree in the end of the fence. Wind blew, brushing his hair wildly about both the two's faces, creating rustling noises from the tree's leafless branches. Muffled high voices of many girls were heard, but none came closer, but it seemed that they wouldn't be leaving any time soon. Not wanting to stay in the same place, Sasuke paced to the lone tree and Sakura trailed behind looking at the barren patch of land. Sitting down, Sasuke stared at the sky or perhaps nothing at all. Sakura sat on the other side of the tree's trunk, looking at the ground or perhaps nothing at all. And all was silent. And all was still.

There were no voices.

There were no rustles.

There was no wind.

There was no thought.

Just quiet.

Peaceful quiet.

Sakura sat up, "See Sasuke?" Grabbing his attention, he sat up also. "If the doorbell is heard—which I highly doubt—we can work out here. It is empty enough. The weather won't be getting cold anyway." Dissatisfied with the circumstance, Sasuke was beginning to wonder if he was going to win this battle at all. Sakura was one who required careful planning. Intricate planning that would not backfire, not lose, and not have any loopholes. Not allowing himself to answer, Sasuke stared at the door of the fence and wondered how much man—or fan girl—power it would take to knock it down. Oh the beauties of being stalked: thinking in odd fashions. "Nice . . . tree . . . by the way," Sakura said. "It's very . . . bare."

"Is this your idea of some small _talk_?"

"Is this your idea of an excuse to have our meeting place changed?" Sakura retorted sarcastically. Score one for Sakura. Touché. Clearing her throat, Sakura played with a fallen twig in the dirt while speaking. She engraved the letter "R", and stopped and threw the twig as far as she could. The "R" was directly in her face, and it was like it was burning her eyes, but she kept gawking at it. Maybe if she checked in the mirror, she would have an "R" branding in her pupil.

He grunted.

She mimicked.

He hn-ed.

She mimicked. "I don't understand your problem with Halloween, though. The costumes may be creepy, and the girls may be annoying from hell, but it's no reason to have it at me house. My house is—it's—forget it."

"Your house it what?" No reply. "Just because you don't believe my reason is good enough isn't enough of an excuse for you to keep pushing the setting to here."—score four for Sasuke—"Don't you deny it, don't you swear. You have something to hide. You have something you are ashamed of. And you always change the subject."

He heard footsteps, and saw Sakura was already walking to the back door. He got up, and slowly treaded the same path she did. Noticing she still didn't answer any of his questions, he tried to push the answers out of her, but she wasn't talking. She wasn't budging from her place of thought. And when they both finally reached the door, Sasuke was amused to find that all was silent and all was still. No rings. At all. It was like a blessing that God waited years to give. It was like music to his ears. It's something he's had for a long time. Oddly enough, Sakura didn't get out yet, and seemed to be waiting for something. Her back was to him, and he waited there for her something.

She turned, "I'll be _here_ tomorrow." Suddenly, she was no longer in his presence, but Sasuke stood there for a while unsure of exactly why. For a moment he could have sworn his ears picked up peculiar sounds. It was like screaming and ripping at the same time. But it was very quiet, like it was a distance away. Shrugging it off as nothing, Sasuke began to walk to his room. Passing the frames and _light switches_—he finally fixed them—the doorbell rang once more. He ignored it, just as Sakura told him to before. But it kept on ringing, and he noticed it seemed to take on a different beat. To him it was more annoyed and impatient rather than the usual excited tone. It kept ringing. Sighing, he went back to the door, and tiredly opened the door but his attention swerved back to Earth as he saw Sakura standing before him. Eye widening, he said nothing and kept staring at her appearance.

Her hair was disheveled in all different places and angles—it must have needed a protractor. Scratched ran on her hands and part of her right cheek that was turning a bit red. And the jacket; her infamous jacket was lacerated and had holes every where. She just looked bedraggled. He saw her vein pulsating violently, pumping blood into her circulation. She looked so different from only moments before, and on top of that, now she was seething. "You know what Sasuke," she said wearily, sounding defeated, her hands were clamped tightly; he thought he saw some blood, "see you at my house tomorrow."

Not suppressing his smirk, he had to ask, "Why change your mind so suddenly?"

Breathing heavily, Sakura tried to calm herself down, but to no avail. She gritted through her teeth, "Two fucking words, Sasuke. Two you most likely know: fan girls."

"Maybe, we could still have it here—"

"Shut the hell up and stop messing with me. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that Sasuke shut the door, hearing more screams, but this time Sakura did not come back for assistance. She was strong. No more rings came from her anymore, but Sasuke had no time to think of that. Because he won the game: five to one.

END OF CHAPTER 7

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Okay, sorry about no update, I guess I really have no excuse but since I'm so guilty I'm going to upload TWO chapters this time, so please review if you want to see this story end someday! 

GhostofYou


	9. Trick or Hate

**Disclaimer:** Own Naruto I do not. Wish I do.

Chapter 8 – Trick or Hate . . .

* * *

_You're too late, _

_To find a way . . ._

_Out. _

It was cold. Sakura was cold.

But the jacket—the only she really owned—she was wearing was _not_ warm. Not even remotely. It was ripped, had holes, and the breeze was wildly passing through to the inside. Just trying not to shiver was an obstacle itself, but because she never had a ride home, she was stuck walking. School ended only a few moments ago—ever since she left the warm embrace of heaters—and since it started that day started, other students had given her amused stares as she passed the halls in a jacket that looked as if it belonged to the Salvation Army. And always—and that meant every time—it would follow with a whisper or asking her face to face what was with the jacket. And every time she walked passed them with nothing to say back. It seemed that everyone in her grade asked her except for the selected few: Sasuke and the people who were the cause of her threadbare coat.

With each step, she was beginning to hate Halloween as much as Sasuke did—maybe more than. Already, she saw some children walking with friends and parents dressed in costumes and masks running from house to house as if the cold didn't bother them. Each house was like the one before: the ring of the doorbell, answering the door, the utter of the famous phrase, and then they got their precious candy. She saw some people only a few years younger than her walk on the other side of the sidewalk, some with friends, some alone. It was a smorgasbord of secret identities. Maybe that's why Sakura used to love Halloween. It was the only day of the year where she could dress like a total idiot and no one could say anything about it. The face behind the mask did not matter on this night. However, no signs of crazy, rabid girls were near by, and she knew none would be by her house tonight. At the thought, Sakura gave a small chuckle imagining girls outside Sasuke's mansion with no one to answer. She just hoped they wouldn't bulldoze the place down to find their beloved _Sasuke-kun_.

It was only three more blocks away, so Sakura picked up her pace. The sooner she got there the better. Looking at the store she was currently in front of, she saw that Sasuke would be at her house in an hour. She couldn't believe she gave in to Sasuke's demand, but one good look at her reflection of the window, she remembered why. Huffing, she put her chilled hands in her holey pockets. The gesture didn't help much, and now she could hardly feel her nose. Think of fire, she thought to herself over and over again. Warm fire, burning bright. Warm fire, burning bright, inside a warm house. Warm fire, burning bright, inside a warm house, with . . .

_Rei_.

Suddenly she stopped, and for some reason, she looked to her right. Right then, she was on the corner of the block, and down the street on the left end was her house. Instead of facing the way to her house, she turned and stared at the road. Looking in the right direction, she turned away and started walking down Rei's street. A few more minutes down in the cold wouldn't kill her, yet. She walked all the way until she was across from it. And she couldn't stop staring. And she couldn't stop blaming herself. And she couldn't stop thinking the same things over and over again: two best friends, living so close, could not be so far apart. Is that even possible? Then out of nowhere, the front door was beginning to open and a figure was emerging.

She made a run for it.

Up the street she was running back to the corner where she was formerly standing a while ago. Not looking back, she shut all noises out, and she wasn't even sure if the figure saw her or if maybe she was hallucinating. Nothing could stop her, she was running like there was no tomorrow, like she had no tomorrow. Ironically, she was finally getting the warmth she was longing for, however she didn't think she would get it this way. With each stride, her heavy backpack bounced off her back in pounding strokes. She could just imagine what kind of bruises would lay there later. Mentally, she thanked herself for choosing to wear shoes that were meant for sprinting.

Opening her eyes, she was reaching the street sign, and was about to finally cease her sprint. But her momentum was causing difficulty for her to stop safely without falling first. She got to the corner and somehow she tripped over something. Her eyes could see she was heading into the black asphalt, yet what caught her attention was the car heading right towards her. Hands went in front to cover her face, but she didn't know what help that would do since the car was only a few feet away. Everything went in slow motion after. Sakura could feel the rocky surface against her hands and the warm liquid beginning to seep through. There was a blaring honk ripping through her eardrums. The headlights were coming closer, and she closed her eyes. Then finally, there was a screech.

And when she opened her eyes, she was still on the street on all fours with bleeding hands and a backpack daring to bring her down. She still had the cold sweat from her run. She was still in her holey jacket. And she was still in front of the car that could have hit her but didn't. She thanked God for brakes. Putting her backpack down, she was kneeling and began to examine her hands. They were lacerated and scraped, and bloody. Its redness captured her eyes into a hypnotic trance. The sound of a car door made her jump, and her eyes traveled from her hands to the feet of the driver who walked—more like ran—in front of her. Eyes went back to her hands, and then went up to the man's face. Eyes widened at the sight.

"Sakura! What was that? I could have hit you!" The man bent down and took her hands in his, but Sakura snatched them away from Sasuke. The pain in her hands was growing, and the mix of cold with it made her hands feel numb. It was like with every beat of her heart there was pulse in her wound. It was a pulsating pain. It was that kind of wound. "Sakura stop. Let me see; they're bleeding too much."

"I can see that genius," Sakura replied hoarsely. The shock of almost being run over, the blood, and the driver being Sasuke still hadn't worn off. It was a good thing no more cars were passing by; there would be an awful lot of traffic.

Sasuke took her backpack and swung it over his shoulder. But he didn't get up yet, "I was just on your way to your house—'trick-or-treaters' were already beginning to come—and then I almost hit you." He sighed, and stood up, "I guess now I'm going to have to drive us both there. Come on, I think I have some bandages to clean it up."

Offering a hand, Sakura rejected the gesture and winced as she got up herself. The passenger door was already open, and she took a seat inside. She looked inside as Sasuke went to the back and opened the trunk to look for something. The interior was really fancy, and even though she didn't particularly favor Sasuke, she had the decency to be careful not to drip blood—the deep red flow—anywhere. Only after a few minutes, Sasuke came back to her side with a white kit. He knelt beside her and took a cloth from the box, he took her hand, and as she did so, her hand jerked away. Sakura wasn't sure why she did that, but she just had to, like she wasn't controlling her body. "I'm fine you know," she whispered.

Sasuke grunted suppressing whatever he had to say to her. Taking her hand firmly, Sakura couldn't pull away and let him clean her wounds starting with her right hand first. It seemed it had the most damage, so he took the cloth and wiped the blood and as he did so Sakura watched with fervor. He must've noticed because he stopped and looked at her shortly and went back to work. Once he was finished and the cloth looked like it was supposed to be red, he took out the alcohol and cotton buds to disinfect her scrapes. Taking another tentative glance at her hand, she saw that her wounds were amazingly deep. As he was doing his disinfection, her hands twitched at the stinging burn that was increasing with every stoke of the cotton. The things people do so we don't get infected, she thought uncomfortably. Years seemed to go by when he was finally finished and wrapped her hand in gauze. She found it hard to move her hand at all, but at least her fingers were free. Repeating the process on her left hand, Sakura waited patiently as his Boy Scout duty was done and he went to the nearest trash to dispose of the used products.

Going back to the trunk, Sasuke returned the kit and Sakura closed the door all by herself—whoop de do, she thought. Not long after, Sasuke entered and sat in the driver's seat, turning the ignition starting to drive in the direction of her house. She didn't have to help him much since there were only two more blocks and then a turn. Like usual it was quiet—a nice quiet Sakura had to admit—and the heat was on; that was all that mattered to her. "What were you doing anyway?" Sasuke absentmindedly asked her while on the wheel. She wasn't sure how to answer it, but of course she knew what he was talking about. "I mean, what were you running from?"

Thinking up of an excuse, one came into mind very quickly. "You see this?" She pointed to her jacket, and Sasuke took a short glance giving an OK. "Thanks to your number one fans, I'm freezing. So I started running—"

"So your idea of getting warm is running, almost getting hit by cars by people you know, and then ride in the warm car?"

"Of course not, you idiot." Looking at the window, there was only one block left. Was he purposely going slowly for warmth? "Moving releases more energy or heat. I didn't expect to get hit by a car especially if the driver was you." The car stopped before the right onto her street, but Sasuke didn't turn the signal. Attention away from the window, she looked back at him, "Yeah, you make a right here."

Sasuke remained passive as he was scrutinizing her. Back to the front, he made the signal and went right, huffing, "Hn." From then on, there were no sounds from the two except for the engine and the heater. It was only when Sakura pointed out her abode with her wrapped mummy hand that either said anything.

Parking the car on the side, Sakura quickly grabbed her bag and climbed out before Sasuke could even take the key from the ignition. She stood on the sidewalk in front of her house, but she had to stop and stare at the mess only her mother could have made. It was so . . . festive. The front yard was full of little Halloween ornaments and fake spider webs that were supposed to give the jovial feeling, but Sakura wanted to tear it all down—it was all too tacky for her taste. Sakura would've rather just put a big sign that said, "Boo" instead of what she saw. Coming up behind her, Sasuke tuned her out of her thoughts of trinkets and wall hangings—she didn't want to know what her mother did to the interior if this was the exterior. "This _is_ it right?"

"—yeah," Sakura said trying to take her eyes off the three foot high witch doll right in the middle of the path to the door. Leading the way, Sakura and Sasuke walked around the doll and Sakura opened the door with the only key she owned—having a car was "totally out of the question," as her parents loved to put it. Both entered and took off their shoes, and Sakura gladly welcomed the complete heat radiating inside her house. At last, she could feel that every part of her body was working and still attached. Taking a good examination, she inferred that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would've been. Nothing seemed to have changed except for the bowl of candy and some stuffed toys with "Push me!" buttons—buttons Sakura knew she was never going to push no matter how much they wanted her to.

A voice came form what sounded like the kitchen whom could only prove to be her mother, "Sakura, honey, you're home late today is there a reason why?" Ignoring, her mom's question, she was about to walk to the stairs to her room, but her mom tried again. Sighing, she said, "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat first before you go up and do 'God knows what'?"

"No, I don't"

Footsteps were coming closer to the two, "Sakura, I know you don't want to hear this but a girl like you shouldn't be star—oh! And who is this?" Sakura's mom stopped once she saw Sasuke, and a smile grew in its place.

"An _acquaintance_."

Mischievously, she went into a horde of excited questions, and Sasuke had to stare at the two family members as one was excitedly exchanging only her wildest fantasies. "Is he the reason why you're home later than usual? Well, I'm so glad you're making new friends—even from the opposite gender—after—"

"No," Sakura said finally before her mother could even think of mentioning what happened. "He's just here for a project that we happen to be partners for—just like every stupid subject," mumbling the last part, she continued. "And the reason why I'm _so_ late is because of this." Sakura lifted both gauzed-wrapped hands to show in front of her face. As she did so, Sasuke saw that her eyes widened in terror once she gazed at the tightly wrapped bandages. Not sure why she was so terrified, Sasuke just watched the conversation unfold in front of him.

Her mother grasped one of Sakura's hands and examined it, and then looked up to meet her eyes. "Sakura, I'm serious—you're not, you know, following in her footsteps and trying to—"

Sakura's eyes widened at her _own_ mother's thought, and she snatched her hand away and turned to the stairs Sasuke following. "No, I'm not mother, okay—I just—I—I fell." As Sasuke was behind Sakura, he stealthily looked back at Sakura's mom, seeing that her eyes were turned down and she silently went back to the kitchen. The wooden stair creaked with each step they took—it was nothing like his own home, but then again not many _were_. Then again, he'd rather live somewhere smaller than a large place full of empty rooms, with empty chairs and tables. It was like the house was smothering him, but he couldn't bring himself to ever leave the house that loved him and hated him at the same time. Yet he couldn't stop asking himself who this said person Sakura was trying to follow was. The mere thought of it was very strange indeed.

At the end of the short hallway—whose light switches were working magnificently—Sakura's room had a small white door that opened to a medium sized room. Nothing what Sasuke was imagining. In his mind, he was in a way, picturing dark painted walls, dark everything, and possibly a torture chamber, but all he saw was, white. Plain white; a tint of white you could only imagine seeing on your death bed.

The walls were white and so was her bed, but there were some things that have some color in it—even though they were dull. It was such a large room, but it was big enough for the two to work peacefully. Sasuke put down his backpack on the nearest side of the bed, and made a three-sixty. Books were piled in places, but it was relatively neat for there weren't many items; maybe that was why it looked so big.

Sakura took a seat on her bed with things out of her bag, and spread her Social Studies books in front of her. Opening her notebook full of notes, she began to carefully write her name on the paper along with assignment without messing up the gauze.

The assignment was fairly easy: just pick a time period and do something creative, followed by a write up. Sounds of trick-or-treaters could hardly be heard from the upstairs room; it was like they were in two different worlds. Probably a couple of hours went by, and the two found themselves already neatly finished and done. Using Sakura's computer, the two printed their last sheet, but even though everything was printed and typed, they knew they still had much to do.

This time for the project, however, the students were asked to present everything professionally—whatever professionally was to senior high school students. A speech was prepared, and all they had to do was go over what each one had to say, at the right time and the right way. The task seemed easy, yet Sakura and Sasuke found themselves needing more practice because of mess ups, slip ups, and everything else that came with the package. Of course, there was the arguing and the bickering until it seemed the walls were going to fall from all the constant disagreements.

Right in the middle of probably their fourth try, Sakura's door creaked open, and they saw her mother watching them with a jovial expression. Sakura was about to say something, but her mom beat her to it. "No, I'm not going to ask if you're hungry." Closing her mouth, Sakura waited for her mother to go on, "It's about 6:25, and it's likely that more people are going to be coming to ring the doorbell."

"Okay . . ."

"And I have to go out and do something, so the reason I came up to was to ask you—"

Sakura got off her bed, and walked outside with her Mom, closing the door behind her. Taking his free liberty, Sasuke got off the bed and walked around her room, and heard parts of the conversation. There wasn't much to look at, just things that Sakura would have, nothing was suspicious. The room just seemed like a sleeping quarters that didn't have much use for it. Passing her garbage can, he came to stop as something caught her eye and took a peek in it. There was no garbage in it, nothing like paper or anything that belonged in the garbage, but there was something in it that to Sasuke didn't seem like it should belong in a trash can. Right at the bottom of the near empty can, was an open box and rings scatter around as if it was accidentally dropped inside and box broke ajar. Sasuke's eyes gazed closer and saw that there were many rings inside whose luster was still there, and some even looking brand new. He just couldn't understand why anyone would throw it out.

Then he heard their voices, "So you want me to _wait for the trick-or-treaters to come and gave them their candy_?" The first voice was obviously coming from Sakura considering it sounded shrill and angry full of poison—surprisingly her venom was even shot at her own mother. At least she's lucky to have one, Sasuke thought.

"Yes, only for a little bit honey, they'll probably stop anytime soon!" This most likely came from her mother; her voice was pleading and at the same time hopeful that maybe her daughter would be obedient enough to listen to her.

"Please, _stop calling me that_." There was an awkward silence; Sasuke went back to the bed however not before taking one the rings out. "And hello? In case you didn't see, my acquaintance and I are working right now, we do have a project to do."

Sakura's mother seemed to be taking that information in very slowly, and then suddenly she came back to her bubbly self. "Oh good, the he can help you!"

"Mother! No! What in God's name gave you that crazy idea? Of course not! He will not help me give candy nor will I do it!"

"Does he have important plans to attend to?"

"No—"

"Then you two can work downstairs together and still give candy, I'm sure he won't mind." There was more fighting, but Sakura's mother used her parental powers over her, and forced Sakura to stay. Sasuke wasn't sure what and why this was going on, but he was sure he didn't want to stay and give trick-or-treaters their stupid candy—especially if they were the reason why he didn't want to do the project at his own house. "Okay, hon—Sakura, I've got to go, and have fun with your _friend_."

Inspecting the ring, Sasuke turned to look back at the door, and saw Sakura who looked particularly annoyed inhaling deeply collecting her thoughts. Not even looking at him, she walked to her desk and took a piece of computer paper and a thick black sharpie marker. Then she walked back and sat down, and used her Social Studies book was a tablet. The marker was moving intensely—even for a hand that was injured, so Sasuke carefully put down the ring beside him and peered over. In big bold letters, he saw that she was finished writing her sign:

"**TAKE ONE AND LEAVE.**"

Friendly.

Sakura took a piece of tape and disappeared for a few minutes, and Sakura was sure that she went down to tape the sign to the bowl of candy and leave it outside. In a way, it was still following the directions of her mother, so when she came back, she was slightly shivering from the cold.

The empty space that was next to Sasuke was suddenly occupied as Sakura took her rightful place. She was setting aside some of her things when Sasuke saw the ring. It was closer to her than he expected it to be. But he knew he couldn't take because he was sure she would spot it. Perhaps, she wouldn't notice. Perhaps, she would. Whatever was going to happen, Sasuke was ready for it.

When things were all organized, her bandaged hand absentmindedly went upon the ring, and her face contorted in confusion. Her head rotated downward, lifting her hand out of the way, and spotted the shining ring. Picking it up in her left hand, her thumb went to touch the stone side, stroking it gently, then harder until Sasuke thought it would pierce her skin. She shook, clenching the ring in her hands and closing her eyes, she stood up and went to her garbage and dropped it in.

When she came back, she didn't sit at first but looked at Sasuke suspiciously but took her attention. "Why did you throw your ring out?" Sasuke had to ask her. "And the box of rings; was it by accident?"

Catching her attention, Sakura took her mind off whatever she was thinking about and answered bluntly. "No." It was quiet again, and after a while Sakura decided to expand a little bit more. "I no longer keep rings. Some people use them jewelry, and some use it for meaning, but honestly, I'll never look at rings like that. I don't get it, a ring is a band around your finger that reminds you of things good and bad; it's a sign of your secret and others you don't want to know. So I've decided to throw them out, to rid the burden of their secrets."

She went back to thinking of pretty much nothing, but Sasuke lingered on what she said. So much in fact, he closed all his material as if they were completely finished, which they weren't. "Yeah I don't feel like going over the material anymore either," Sakura cut in.

"Hn."

The doorbell rang once, but it was followed by a loud scream telling people that the candy was left outside. It was heard clearly in Sakura's room, and got their attention. "Samhain." (Sow-en)

"What?"

Her attention went back to Sasuke, "You know Samhain, the ancient Gaelic festival that celebrated the end of harvest, or also known as the 'Celtic New Year'?" She noticed that Sasuke's expression didn't change, and she sighed to herself in irritation. "Do you even read? Forget it, you probably don't. I'll just explain it to you—like always," she mumbled the last part to herself not thinking Sasuke heard her, but he did. He just didn't show it.

"Samhain, Halloween, or All Hallow's Eve," Sakura explained, "was the night that the Gaelic boundaries between the living and the dead would be broken and wreak havoc to their villages. The celebrated this day by lighting and bonfire with bones and often dressed in costumes and masks—duh, Halloween—to mimic the spirits. And that's basically it. And this is why people are outside my door and your crazy fans dress in stupid costumes begging you for _candy_. Ugh, revolting." Sasuke listened, and Sakura sat there contemplating about the holiday. Halloween—Holy Evening, but it felt anything but holy. "Honor the dead . . . Maybe it's true . . . Sasuke." He looked at her, but Sakura was deep in thought, so when she went to face him again she was still skeptical if he was the right person to ask. Then again, who could she ask? No one else would really understand; as much as she didn't want to admit it: Sasuke was the closest person who could remotely relate to her. "Halloween, some people use this time to remember the dead and _honor_ them. Do you—"

At the worst moment, the doorbell rang and Sakura could have ignored it except for the fact that it was an insistent ringing. She rolled her eyes and went out of the room down the stairs, leaving Sasuke alone inside once more. He wasn't planning to do anything more along the lines of "exploring"—he already found out why the rings were considered as trash. Sakura's odd fixation on the rings was enough of an incentive for him to just sit and wait till Sakura got back.

Straightening himself up, he accidentally pushed his books off the edge of the bed causing them splatter around and under. Gruffly, he got on all fours and started to gather his fallen materials and placing them back on the bed so he could fix them later. Almost everything was up except for the objects under Sakura's bed, so he extended his arm but to his surprise his hand landed on something sharp.

Sasuke took his hand away, and leaned further to see what it was, but first he retrieved everything and fixed it in his bag. Going back down, he saw what looked to be broken glass and he carefully reached for the broken object, sliding it out. It was slightly larger than his hand, but it was rectangular shaped. And when it was in his full view, he saw that it was a picture frame with the frontal glass shattered from the center. Chunks were missing, but some of the original glass was still there looking like a delicate spider web. He had no idea what it was doing under Sakura's bed, but picked it up and walked over to the garbage can.

Carefully, he wiped the extra shards of glass away so he could see the picture. There were two people in the shot; the one on the left was no doubt Sakura, with her pink hair and bright, wide smile that never seemed to show anymore. But the person next to her, Sasuke did not know who it was, but he felt like he should. He wanted to know who it was, but he couldn't pick anything from deep within his memory of the identity of this girl. The picture seemed almost recent—perhaps a little under a year—and she had her arm around Sakura and her doing the same. She had brown hair and brown eyes, with fair skin and she was sticking her tongue out at the camera. Turning the frame over, some more pieces of glass fell into the garbage, but Sasuke saw there was a written message:

_Dear Sakura,_

_Remember when we took this picture? You couldn't stop laughing the whole time! Seems early, but I wanted to give this to you now, so whenever you look at it you'll think of that day. Just look at this whenever things seem low! I love you! (like a sister :P)_

The signature was scratched out, so Sasuke's only clue to know who the person's name was lost. However, he couldn't stay on the subject because the door opened, but Sasuke had no time to hide his discovery. She came in quickly, with her head faced behind her, so when it faced right again, her eyes went straight to the picture frame in Sasuke's hands. He was expecting a scolding, and was trying to prepare himself, but what he got instead surprised him. "Sasuke, get out." Sakura said short of breath.

"What?" Sasuke couldn't understand: she was kicking him out. "Wait, who is—"

"I think you should leave, now." Sasuke tried to fight back, but Sakura was too shaken up to hear any of it. "Please Sasuke, just—_leave_." Not saying anything, he put the frame down, and picked up his bag and walked out of the room and Sasuke stayed behind and waited till she could hear the front door close and the car drive by. Walking to the place where he put the frame down, her mother suddenly came into her room.

"Sakura, he left so briskly! Did something—"

"No," and with that her mother left the room without another word, closing the door behind her. Picking up the frame, Sakura was about to throw it out with the rings, but she just couldn't let go. With no other choice, she put it back under her bed, picture down, far underneath. Then—she wasn't sure if she was imagining it or not—she heard a ticking, like the sound a watch makes when covered in cotton. She sat herself on her desk chair, and looked at the window seeing the trick-or-treaters. Hm, maybe the dead to come back to haunt me, she thought at last.

END OF CHAPTER 8

* * *

Ok, I was going to post chapter 7 a week ago, but I decided to be nice and post two chapters at once. I think I'll do it to my next story too. : Anyway, I hope you like the story so far. HAPPY BELATED SAMHAIN, HALLOWEEN, AND ALL HALLOW'S DAY!

GhostofYou

P.S. read and review! Oh and sorry, but please check out Familiar too! It needs all the hits  
(or reviews) it can get . . .


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